Save Me From Myself
by Tigerz101
Summary: All gone. She's finally done it. Over 17 years, Lucy has managed to kill her entire family. They didn't deserve to be killed the way they did, they were such nice people. She gazed up to the starry filled sky, feeling tears fall down her face. She has no one left, no family, no friends, no one at all. So who would care if she killed herself too? *NaLu*
1. Chapter 1

I felt the freezing cold water nip at my entire body as I lay there, floating in the ocean. I could care less if I were freeze to death or just get frostbite, I just wanted to watch the bright stars in the sky...one last time.

I felt warm tears slide down my face into the cold water as my jeans and shirt clung to me uncomfortably. I was right off the shore of the beach, not that far out, but far enough.

Tonight was the night I would finally let myself fall to the depths of the unforgiving ocean beneath me. I would finally be let free of all this misery and pain I have caused myself and others around me, emotionally and physically.

My blonde hair swam all around my head, feeling like ice was forming at the ends. I stared up to the black night sky, where there was the bright white moon, staring back down at me, just waiting to let myself go and join it in the skies.

I always admired the stars and the moon. I don't know why they interest me so much, but they do. Maybe it's because that's where I picture the last of my family. Up with the stars and in heaven, looking down at the pathetic being they called a family member. They stared down at me too, I wasn't sure if they were waiting for me, like the moon, or wanting me to endure my miserable life in revenge.

I decided to not let myself live on this beautiful planet anymore. I don't deserve to anyways. After this night, it would be free of a burden like me. It would rejoice of the bad luck charm it was being held of.

That's what I was. A bad luck charm. All of my family's dead, and I'm the whole reason why. They were sweet and innocent people too, they didn't deserve any of that. I should've taken their pain and just died while they were still alive. I would've gladly given my life for theirs, but it was too late. My mother, my half-sister, my father...all gone. I'm completely alone in this world, so I doubt anyone would even notice I was gone. Even if they did notice, they wouldn't care. No one would care.

I felt more warming tears fall down my red face and closed my eyes. I saw a picture of my father as soon as it went black. He had just died two weeks ago, by yours truly. After my mother had died, he was heartbroken. And of course, I killed my mother too. After I was born, my mother became incredibly weak and ill, but she still loved me. She was so sick...all those years, she looked horrible and was suffering. I was too young to understand, but I was hit with the hard truth when she died when I was only 6. My dad snapped in two that day.

After she died, my father felt so angry and alone...I was the only one to take all of that out on. My sister Michelle would've been there, but she disappeared the day after our mom died. She was found dead the next morning...hit by a train. Apparently she was crying and running mindlessly and her boot got caught in the tracks. The train was coming so fast, she didn't have time to untie it and...

Since their deaths my father blamed me for everything and lashed out on me. She didn't hit me, just whipped my back from time to time. I knew deep down he still loved me, but it was all covered up by anger and pain. I let him hit me, it made him feel better and it was the least I could do, being the reason my mom and sister had died.

I stayed with him, letting him release his anger for years and years. 10 to be exact. I never had any friends before, I came from a rich family so I didn't get to meet any other people my age. I've never had a real friend before, nor knew how to make one.

I ran away from my father at 16, thinking he would be happiest without me; the constant memory of the deaths of his true love and daughter. I wished the best for him, I wasn't mad at him for whipping me. He was just sad, as was I.

I lived pretty well on my own, got an apartment and saved up some jewels I took with me from my father. It was all well, until one year later.

I thought leaving my dad was the best choice for both of us...but it wasn't. It was the _worst_. Apparently, since I was no longer around for him to release his anger on, he had no one else to turn to then, himself. He gave himself a heart attack, freaking out once again over his wife. I felt my heart shatter to pieces that day.

I had finally done it...over 17 years, I managed to murder my entire family. No more family, friends, strangers...I had no one left. Everyone I knew is dead because of _me_. How selfish and awful can a human be do be able to do that?

My arms and legs felt numb in the freezing water and I felt myself slipping deeper into the ocean. I glanced back up to the star filled sky one last time..and let myself sink into the abyss. My nose burnt from all the salt water entering it and I saw the sky get further away from me.

'I'm coming, mama.'

**Another 'beginning' from meee! Review and PM if you like it so far and I'll continue it! (Naturally, already way far ahead :p)**


	2. Just Stop Caring

After I began to sink, I closed my tear-filled eyes and pictured me rejoicing with my family. I couldn't decide whether to gulp down the water, making my suffering as little as possible or just let myself feel the pain my family had and just let my lungs burst so I just laid there, sinking slowly.

All the sudden I felt two strong arms around my back and legs, lifting me above water. I coughed out the stinging water from my lungs and cried some remaining tears. The arms tightened around me and I looked up to see who it was.

I felt my heart skip a beat as I saw a handsome man look down to me in worry. He had tan, muscular arms, along with his chest and body. He had a cute face, though, with very unusual pink hair. His dark black eyes stared deeply into my brown ones and felt my heart pound faster.

"Are you alright?" He asked in a worried tone.

I nodded my head and felt him trudge through the deep water, back to the sandy shore.

* * *

(Normal P.O.V.)

The man carried the girl back to the shore and set her down gently on the sand. She sat, shivering on the damp sand and watched as he sat right in front of her.

"What were you doing out there?" He asked.

"Nothing." She replied, avoiding his intense stare.

'Nothing?' He thought and furrowed his eyebrows.

-Flashback-

_The pink-haired man was walking along the outskirts of Magnolia, gazing at the beautiful view of the glistening ocean from a cliff. He felt the cool breeze blow through his dragon-scaled scarf and noticed something weird in the waters below._

_He walked to the edge of the cliff and saw a body, floating limply in the freezing water._

_'Who is that? Are they hurt?' He thought panicking._

_He quickly ran down to the shore and saw the girls body begin to sink down. He trudged through the nipping water and managed to catch her in his arms before she sunk too low. _

_He pulled her up, saving her life and saw the prettiest girl he had ever seen. She had short blonde hair that glistened in the moonlight and smooth white skin, that felt as soft as it looked. She coughed for a minute and looked up into his wide black eyes with her big brown ones._

_He was stunned by her beauty._

-Flashback Ends-

"Nothing." She replied, avoiding his intense stare.

"I don't believe that, what were you doing out there?" He asked again, more stern this time.

'He shouldn't know what I was doing...' She thought, trying to come up with a lie.

"I was watching the stars and forgot to float for a second." She lied, sternly staring at him.

He sighed, still not believing her, but decided not to push it.

"What's your name?" He asked sweetly.

'What does it matter? I'm going to die anyways.' She thought bitterly.

"Lucy." She introduced and wiped away an old tear.

"I'm Natsu." He introduces and notices her wiping her red face.

'Was she crying?' Natsu furrowed his eyebrows.

"Thanks for saving me." Lucy smiled a bit and stood up, wiping sand off her wet jeans.

Natsu stood up with her and looked into her red-ish eyes.

"Why were you crying?" Natsu asked curiously and concerned.

Lucy's eyes widened and took a small step back.

'Daddy...'

She felt tears begin to cloud her eyes, but tried blinking them back.

"..." Lucy was speechless, but found her words. "I wasn't crying."

Natsu expression hardened and stepped closer to her.

"I can tell you were." Natsu looked sternly at her shocked expression. "Did someone hurt you? If they did I'll make them pay."

Lucy's insides felt warmed by his caring words. She felt her heart tingle at his kindness, but remembered she doesn't deserve any of it. She doesn't deserve such a nice guy to be talking to her. She wished he hadn't of saved her.

"No one hurt me." Lucy turned away from him, feeling tears slip out of her eyes.

Natsu had smelled salt water before, because of the ocean, but he knew a different scent for tears.

'She was crying...' Natsu thought, and realized something.

He ran around to face her lowered head, watching tears fall to the damp sand below her.

"Lucy, why were you in the water?!" Natsu asked frantically and held her shoulders.

Lucy cried harder and refused to look the kind man in his eyes. She didn't even deserve to _look_ at him.

"I want to die..." Lucy sobbed and shook her head.

Natsu eyes widened that his horrible idea was true. His grip tightened on her shoulders as she still refused to look at him.

"You-You can't die!" Natsu panicked and shook her shoulders gently.

"And why not!" Lucy yelled and pulled her shoulders away from him. She stared at his black eyes with her red puffy ones and turned away from him.

Lucy sobbed harder and began hitting her head with her fists.

"I hate this stupid life! I just want it to end already!" She cried and continued to hit her head.

Natsu quickly ran in front of her and grabbed both her wrists to stop herself. She looked up in his determined eyes and felt herself get lost in them.

"I won't let you die." Natsu said strongly.

"What do you care! You don't even know me!" Lucy shouted into his face, holding in a sob.

"I know I don't know you well, but I like being around you." Natsu smiled warmly at her. "And I would never let a friend die."

'Friend?' Lucy thought in disbelief. She once again felt her heart tingle in warmth by his words.

'No, Lucy. Don't befriend him.' She thought. 'He'll just end up dead like everyone else. Just try to lose him.'

"We're not friends." Lucy said coldly and pulled her wrists away harshly.

She felt herself cry harder at being mean to him and turned away to hide her pain.

Natsu felt hurt by her words and watched her head back towards the ocean to finish the job.

Lucy cried harder and harder as she neared the freezing waters once again.

"Lucy, please stop!" Natsu pleaded as he stepped in front of her path, holding his arms out so she couldn't pass him.

'Quit being so nice to me...' Lucy cried in her thoughts as she lowered her head.

"I don't want you to die..." Natsu continued to plead.

Natsu felt a harsh push on his shoulders, making him take a step back. He looked to see Lucy masking her sadness with rage.

"Why do you care!" Lucy shouted as she cried and pushed him again.

Natsu felt himself being pushed and shoved over and over by her. He felt her pain and anger radiate off of her.

"Why do you care so _much_!" Lucy began to sob as her voice cracked. She pushed his shoulders again and glared into his pitied eyes.

Lucy couldn't stand him staring at her like that. She couldn't stand him just _standing_ there, letting her push him around.

"STOP CARING!" Lucy yells and punched his chest, obviously not having a lot of effect.

Natsu felt her punch his chest with the sides of her fists, but all he could do was let her release her anger. It didn't hurt him, so he just stood there.

"Stop caring! Stop!" Lucy screamed and punched him over and over.

She couldn't _stand_ how he wouldn't just leave! She wished her punches were more effective on him and he would just get the picture.

Lucy felt herself sob harder and harder as she felt herself tire out. Her punches got weaker against his hard chest and she felt heartbroken all over again.

"Stop caring about me! Just stop already!" Lucy sobbed and continued to weakly punch his chest.

All Natsu could do was look down to the slightly shorter blonde and watch in pity. He felt her punches grow weaker but her sobs grow louder.

"Just stop!" Lucy cried and threw weaker punches.

"STOP!" Lucy screamed and threw herself into his arms.

She sobbed to her loudest potential and hugged Natsu, snuggling her head into his chest, along with her hands that clutched his vest.

Natsu felt his own tears surface at the pain she gave off. She finally had given up trying to make him leave and hugged him. He wrapped his arms around her and felt her legs give out, making them sit on the cold and damp sand. She sobbed into his chest and felt comfortable by his heat.

"I'm sorry..." Lucy cried and shook her head. "I'm sorry..."

Natsu rubbed her back and consoled her on the sand. He didn't know what could've possibly hurt her so much to make her lash out like that.

"I'm so sorry..." Lucy sobbed and clutched his vest.

Natsu had stayed like that for hours, sitting on his legs, holding the crying girl until she eventually was knocked out from exhaustion. His chest felt drenched in her tears and her grip loosened on his vest.

Natsu picked up the sleeping girl in his arms and silently walked back to his house outside Magnolia, the whole time trying to imagine what _happened_ to this girl.

**Hi everyone! Thanks SO much for the great reviews on both my new stories, I really appreciate them! I hope you liked this chapter and the story so far so don't be afraid to review and tell me what ya think! Love you all, Bye!**


	3. What A Wonderful Life

_Natsu had stayed like that for hours, sitting on his legs, holding the crying girl until she eventually was knocked out from exhaustion. His chest felt drenched in her tears and her grip loosened on his vest. _

_Natsu picked up the sleeping girl in his arms and silently walked back to his house outside Magnolia._

* * *

He stared at her red and tear-stained face glow in the moonlight as he approached his small house. He pushed open the door with his foot and saw Happy laying on the couch, waiting for him.

"Natsu! Where have you been?" Happy cried, worried about his friend. "Its really late!"

"I had to help a friend, Happy." Natsu said breathless and he brought her into their bedroom.

Happy watched Natsu lay the sleeping girl on their hammock, not even stirring a bit.

"She's all wet, she'll get sick." Happy said flying next to Natsu.

"I think I have an old shirt for her, we'll change her." Natsu said and went to his dresser.

"Um...I think I'll change her, Natsu." Happy laughed awkwardly.

"Why?" Natsu asked as he pulled out a much too large shirt for Lucy.

"She'll probably get angry if she finds out you took off her clothes without her knowing." Happy tried to explain.

"But she'll get sick if I don't." Natsu said obliviously.

"Natsu, I'm a cat. Let me." Happy said, hoping he would understand.

"Whatever, Happy." Natsu sighed and tossed him the shirt.

Happy waited for Natsu to leave and lucky for him, Lucy was wearing a partly dry undershirt. He put on the shirt over Lucy, completely surprised she didn't wake up from him.

'She must be exhausted.' Happy furrowed his eyebrows in wonder.

Now, it looked like Lucy was just wearing a short dress and Happy goes to Natsu outside.

"I did it..." Happy drifted off, hoping that girl wouldn't freak out in the morning.

"Great, thanks Happy." Natsu smiled at him.

"Can we go to sleep?" Happy asked yawning.

"I'm going to stay awake and watch over Lucy. You can go sleep though." Natsu sighed and glanced at Lucy in the doorway.

He still didn't trust her without anyone watching her. If he fell asleep Lucy could wake up and try something else meanwhile, and there's no way he'll let her try something again.

"Lucy? Who is she?" Happy asked about her.

"She's just a friend that needed help." Natsu tried to conceal what happened.

"Did you guys go swimming?" Happy questioned.

"In a way." Natsu shrugged and strolled inside the dark, moonlit bedroom.

"Alright, Natsu." Happy yawned and fluttered beside Lucy on his hammock.

Natsu sat on his messy couch and watched Happy snuggle up next to Lucy. He watched the two sleep the whole night, Happy softly snoring and Lucy still out cold until Happy woke up around 9:00 am.

"Hmm...Natsu?" Happy asked groggily and yawned.

"Hey Happy." Natsu said from across the room.

Happy sleepily fluttered to Natsu and plopped on his chest.

"What time is it?" Happy asked into his vest.

"About 10." Natsu shrugged and petted him. "Lucy still asleep over there?"

"Yeah, she seems really tired." Happy sighed and sat up. "I'm hungry."

"Me too, let's see if we have any food." Natsu said standing up, holding his furry friend in his arms.

Natsu and Happy found a box of cereal and ate hungrily, as usual.

After a two hours or so, Natsu heard some groaning coming from Lucy in the bedroom and put his fourth bowl of cereal away.

He entered the room and saw Lucy finally stir awake at noon. She fluttered her eyes open and squinted at the harsh sunlight entering the room. She sat up and swung her bare legs over the side of the hammock, rubbing her cute, messy blonde hair.

Natsu walked over and sat on a chair near the end of the hammock, smiling at how cute she looked in the morning.

"Where am I?" Lucy asked looking around her.

"I brought you to my house." Natsu answered.

"When?" Lucy asked looking towards him.

"After you finally fell asleep last night." Natsu chuckled a bit.

"Oh, well thank you." Lucy smiled and stood up. "You didn't have to do that."

"Yes I did." Natsu told her as he stared at her.

Lucy blushed a bit and fiddled with the ends of her shirt, finally noticing what she was wearing.

Lucy pointed to her shirt and looked to him.

"Did you..." She drifted off, scared of his answer.

"Don't worry, my cat changed you." Natsu grinned reassuringly.

"Your cat did?" Lucy raised an eyebrow.

"Aye Sir!" Happy yelled and flew in the room.

Lucy was taken aback by the flying blue cat that talked.

"This is Happy, he's my exceed." Natsu laughed as Happy fell on top of his head.

"I see..." Lucy looked away from the two and fumbled with the ends of her shirt again.

"I'm still hungry, Natsu." Happy complained and flew up in the air. "We have any fish?"

"Go check the fridge." Natsu sighed.

"Okay!" Happy exclaimed and bolted out the room.

Lucy couldn't help but feel a bit awkward in her circumstances. She had just tried to beat up the guy (obviously to no avail) and then fell on him crying and now she's standing in front of him wearing no pants. What a wonderful life.

"Lucy." Natsu called her out of her thoughts, noticing her blush.

"Hm? Oh yeah?" Lucy gave him her attention.

"Can you promise me something?" Natsu asked seriously.

Lucy walked back to the hammock and sat on the side of it as Natsu came to sit in front of her.

"What about?" Lucy tilted her head, confused.

"Promise me you try anything like that again." Natsu stared into her brown eyes, seeing her stiffen.

Lucy looked into his serious eyes and felt like she was getting lost in them again. She tore her eyes away from his and looked to the side of the hammock.

"I...don't know if I can do that." Lucy hesitated and fumbled with her shirt again.

"Lucy please!" Natsu begged and held down her hands on her knee, making her cheeks go a faint pink. "You have to promise me!"

"I..." Lucy tried to find words, but felt herself getting lost in his pleading eyes again.

"Promise me you will live." Natsu said, tightening his grip on her hands.

"...I promise." Lucy said after a moment of silence.

"But only if you give me a reason to live for." Lucy hardened her gaze at him.

Natsu smiled widely and stuck out his pinkey finger.

"Pinkey promise?" Natsu grinned.

Lucy laughed softly at his childish antics and wrapped her pinkey with his. "Pinkey Promise."

"Great! Now you can come to Fairy Tail!" Natsu cheered and stood up.

"Aye Sir!" Happy cheered while eating a fish he found.

"Fairy Tail?" Lucy questioned.

'He's the Salamander?' Lucy realized.

"Yeah! Were the strongest guild ever!" Natsu boasted proudly. "We'd love to have you join!"

"Join? W-"

Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and bolted for the door, wanting his friends to meet her as soon as possible. It was already noon, he hasn't seen them in a while.

"They're great!" Natsu said as he kicked open the door with Happy right by him.

Lucy wiggled out of his hand when she saw him distracted by something outside and stood behind him.

"Erza? Grey?" Happy said flying onto Natsu's shoulder.

Natsu saw the two about to knock on his door, but were surprised when it kicked open.

"Natsu? Where have you been? You haven't been to the guild all day." Erza asked him.

"Erza, I'm telling you, the idiot slept in." Grey sighed in annoyance.

"Shut up Ice Prick." Natsu huffed.

"You shut up Hot Head." Grey snapped.

"Wanna go Ice Block!" Natsu yelled and butted heads with him.

"Any day Flame Brain!" Grey shot back.

"Um...Natsu?" Lucy said from behind him.

Erza and Grey looked behind Natsu to see a pretty girl, wearing one of Natsu's shirt and waiting in his house. They felt their cheeks grow hot in embarrassment of what was happening.

"Oh, yeah?" Natsu remembered Lucy.

"Um." Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot seeing the two others stare at her blushing. "W-where are my clothes?"

"Here, I'll show you." Natsu offered and led her back inside the house.

Erza and Grey tried calming their faces, but to no avail and turned to Happy.

"Who was that?" Grey asked him in a whisper.

"Lucy. I saw Natsu come home late with her last night." Happy replied.

Erza and Grey flushed harder at his answer.

"She was asleep in his arms when he came home and he put her in our hammock and watched her sleep all night." Happy continued to explain.

"Probably just helping her..." Erza sighed calming down her face.

(Meanwhile)

"Alright. Thanks for drying my clothes." Lucy smiled as she walked out of his bathroom.

"No problem." Natsu said yawning.

"Where did you sleep last night?" Lucy questioned his sleepiness.

"I didn't." Natsu replied casually.

"Why?" Lucy furrowed her eyebrows and walked in front of him.

"I wanted to make sure you didn't wake up randomly and try something stupid." Natsu answered.

Lucy felt her insides grow warm again by his words. He just never stops caring about her, and she loved it. It was such a foreign feeling to her.

"And you stole my hammock." Natsu adds with a goofy grin.

Lucy giggles and feels her face grow warm.

"Then why don't you go get some sleep." Lucy suggested and pointed behind her to his bedroom.

"No, I want to show you the guild!" Natsu whined.

"That can wait for later. You should get some sleep." Lucy told him.

"But Lucyy!" Natsu whined.

"Nope." Lucy shook her head and pointed to his room. "Go."

"Fine." Natsu huffed. "I'll tell the guys."

Natsu left Lucy and went back to Happy and the others.

"You coming or what?" Grey scoffed impatiently.

"No." Natsu glared at him. "I won't be coming today, but I'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Why?" Erza asked feeling a bit embarrassed again.

"I have some..." Natsu forgot the word he was looking for and snapped his fingers as he backed away. "Stuff, to catch up on."

He continued to backed away into the house and gave a light wave, leaving the two to come up with their own conclusions.

"See ya!" Happy said and closed the door.

Erza and Grey stood there confused and embarrassed.

"Catching up on _what_?" Erza asked.

Grey shrugs and heads back down the road. "Something with that girl I guess.."


	4. Backstory

_"Catching up on what?" Erza asked._

_Grey shrugs and heads back. "Something with that girl..."_

* * *

"Alright Lucy. Don't go off anywhere." Natsu yawned and slumped into his hammock.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be around here somewhere with Happy." Lucy reassured him.

'Should I go to sleep? What if she does something?' Natsu wondered as he watched her close his door. 'Maybe...'

'No, it will be okay.' Natsu thought. 'We made a promise, so she'll keep it.'

He quickly fell into a deep sleep, snuggled up to his pillow on the hammock, where Lucy's scent was still lingering.

Natsu awoke very late in the night, almost at sunrise. He stumbled out of his hammock and groaned.

"Lucy?" Natsu called for her groggily and stood up.

"Luucy?" Natsu called again as he walked into his hallway, rubbing his eye.

'Where is she?' Natsu thought, feeling worried.

"Lucy!" Natsu came into the kitchen turning on the light, but only to see it empty.

"Where is she?" Natsu mumbled to himself.

He tried sniffing for her sweet scent, but it was already all over the house.

Natsu turned on all the lights in his house in search of her, but she was nowhere to be found.

* * *

"Lucy!" Natsu panicked and ran for the door.

'Maybe she went to her house...' Natsu tried to calm himself.

"Lucy!" Natsu called into the darkness of the night as he ran out.

"Yes?" Lucy said casually.

"Wh-wha?" Natsu turned around him, still not seeing her.

"Up here." Lucy giggled.

Natsu looked up to see Lucy sitting on his roof, stargazing with a sleeping Happy on her lap.

"There you are." Natsu sighed in relief and climbed up next to her.

"What are you doing?" He asked scooting next to her on the slanted roof.

"Watching the stars." Lucy pointed to the dark sky.

Natsu squinted but only saw a few. Not a lot, actually.

"They were more visable before you turned on every light in the house." Lucy joked and leaned on her back, petting a purring Happy.

Natsu crossed his legs and stared at her in wonder of something.

"What?" Lucy asked, noticing him staring at her.

"Can I ask you a question..." Natsu asked, unsure if he wanted too.

"Sure." Lucy told him and shifted Happy beside her.

"Why are you so...sad?" Natsu asked hesitantly of her reaction.

Natsu watched as Lucy didn't even glance at him, she just kept her eyes on the stars above her.

"I just had a rough life." Lucy said showing no emotion.

"Want to talk about it?" Natsu asked, more curious at what made her act this way.

Lucy sighed internally at his obvious curiousity and sat up to face him.

"I wanted to drown so much because I had nothing to live for." She told him.

'There's always a reason to live. _Always_.' Natsu wanted to say, but let her continue.

"My familys dead and I have never made a friend before in my life." Lucy said despretly trying to remain emotionless.

"After my mother gave birth to me, she became incredibly weak and ill. I'll never forget how _lifeless_ she looked every day. She had to stay in a bed for years because she was too sick to even move." Lucy blinked back tears. "She stayed strong until I was six...then she died. I was too young to understand she was gone forever, but reality hit me. Hard."

Natsu saw her trying to keep herself from crying again and felt the need to hug her. He didn't want her to feel sad anymore, he just wanted to see her smile. A real smile, one he had yet to see before.

"The day after my mom died, my half-sister Michelle, went missing after running out of our house crying. We thought she had run away from us, but that night we realized we _wished_ she would've run away from us." Lucy sighed and shut her eyes to stop the tears from producing. "That night..."

Natsu saw her struggling to keep talking and was about to tell her it was alright if she didn't want to talk, but she continued.

"Michelle was hit by a train." Lucy finished, opening her eyes to look at Natsu's eyes widen. "Her boot got stuck in the track while she was running across."

"After that happened, my dad was completely heartbroken. He had so much pain and anger running through him he didn't know how to express it so he let a lot of it out on me." Lucy felt a tear escape her hold and turned around, letting her back face Natsu. She lifted up her shirt, showing what her father had _really_ done to her.

Natsu felt his heart break when he saw the whip scars criss crossing all over Lucy's back. They looked so painful and were so big and _deep_.

Lucy pulled her shirt down and faced Natsu again.

'What kind of father does that to their daughter!' Natsu thought angrily. 'I should go beat him up now!'

"I knew deep down, he still loved me. He was just so angry at everything that happened, he blamed me for the death of his wife and daughter." Lucy felt more tears fall down. "He said if I wasn't born, they would still be alive..."

Natsu saw Lucy finally cry and held her hand for consolation.

"I let him release his anger on me for 10 years." Lucy continued and looked down to Happy on the roof. "I ran away when I was 16. I thought I was doing the best idea, he wouldn't have to hate me anymore and would be happier. That's what I wanted."

"But..." Lucy cried harder. "If I hadn't of left...he would still be alive."

'He's dead too!?' Natsu thought in disbelief.

"He was still so angry, but now that I had left...he had no one to take it out on anymore." Lucy cried. "He had a heart attack two weeks ago."

"If only I had stayed with him, and quit being such a *wimp*!" Lucy scolded herself and laid back down. "He would still be here..."

"That's why I don't deserve to live." Lucy said sternly as she kept her eyes to the sky. "I've killed too many people."

Natsu didn't know what to say. He was afriad if he said something wrong it might hurt her more. He just stared at her. Stared at her hard expression towards the stars.

* * *

Lucy stayed quiet for a moment and saw Natsu look at her in slight confusion and concern. She realized that her expression must of upset him.

"I'm sorry." Lucy softened her gaze and sat up.

"It's alright." Natsu gave her a warm smile.

"So, have you thought of your end of the deal yet?" Lucy asked him, trying to cheer him up.

"Yeah. That was easy." Natsu grinned.

"Really?" Lucy smirked, raising an eyebrow. "What do I have to live for now?"

"Me." Natsu replied simply.

"H-Huh?" Lucy blushed.

"And the guild." Natsu added.

"Wait, what?" Lucy asked for an explanation.

"The reason for you to continue living on in this world is to keep me and Fairy Tail company." Natsu smiled.

Lucy felt her heart tingle again and found herself growing a smile.

'That's such a easy reason.' Lucy internally sighed.

"But, I haven't met anyone at Fairy Tail. What if they don't like me?" Lucy asked worried.

"Of course they'll like you!" Natsu laughed. "And you met Grey and Erza today."

"Yeah, but I didn't _meet_ them. I just saw them." Lucy explained.

"Don't worry." Natsu reassured her.

Lucy sighed and picked up the purring Happy. "Well, I'm going inside."

"Okay." Natsu agreed and went inside with her.

Lucy carried Happy to his bedroom with Natsu and turned back to him.

"Here." Lucy said cradling Happy in her arms and giving him to Natsu. She loved holding Happy like that, he was so cute.

"You guys can hang around or something." Lucy told him.

"What about you?" Natsu asked while holding Happy.

"I'll lie down on the couch or something." Lucy shrugged and headed towards his messy couch.

"Okay..." Natsu said, a bit disappointed she wouldn't be hanging out with him anymore. "See you tomorrow.."

* * *

**Eh, didn't like the ending too much but I think overall it was alright. Sorry if it was kinda boring, but next chapter should make up for it. :)**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	5. Great Hospitality

"Natsu, I'm nervous! And quit pulling me so hard!" Lucy complained as she felt her arm about to be ripped off her.

"Don't be nervous Lucy!" Natsu laughed as he pulled her up the stairs to Fairy Tail.

"Aye Sir!" Happy cheered.

Lucy watched as Natsu kicked open the door with his foot, almost knocking it off its hinges. She saw tables and beer mugs fly everywhere as people fought and laughed together.

"I'M BACK!" Natsu roared into the loud crowd.

Lucy felt a bit intimidated by the rambunctious guild and hid behind Natsu, seeing Happy fly off to another exceed.  
She heard the guild burst out into cheering for Natsu's return and clenched his vest tightly in nervousness.

'These people are so wild! I'll never fit in here.' Lucy panicked.

Natsu laughed at his crazy guild members and felt his vest being pulled.

'Oh, right. Lucy.' Natsu remembered her.

"HEY EVERYONE!" Natsu yelled, catching the guilds attention.

"Natsu! Stop!" Lucy scolded him in a hushed tone and felt her hands begin to shake.

All eyes went to Natsu and the pretty blonde girl hiding behind him."Don't be scared, Lucy." Natsu grinned and pulled her beside him, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

Lucy felt her face blush crimson from all the eyes staring at her. How she wished Natsu wasn't so loud all the time.

"Everyone, this is Lucy." Natsu introduced her.

Lucy felt murmurs and mutters and looked away to the ground. She inched closer, behind Natsu to hide once again. It wasn't her fault she was so shy. Natsu _was_ her first friend and she never learned how to communicate with others. She didn't know what everyday people were like, how they acted, what they expected of her...a lot of things. By that time, Lucy was already halfway behind him, feeling the relief.

"Lucy, quit hiding." Natsu scolded lightly as he picked her up by her waist easily and set her in front of him.

"I-I'm not hiding!" Lucy denied and blushes harder from the giggles from the crowds.

She looked away from the crowd and tucked a hair behind her ear as she backed up, right into Natsu's buff chest. She looked up to see his grinning face and blushed harder.

"Let's welcome her, ya?" Natsu cheers.

The guild roared in agreement as threw beer everywhere.

'H-how can they just accept me so quickly! They don't even know anything about me!' Lucy thought in disbelief.

"See? I told you they would like you." Natsu said smugly and watched her scoot beside him.

Lucy laughed awkwardly and made her blush tone down a notch. She felt it come right back as she saw Natsu take off to a pretty barmaid who seemed to be giving the two of them a devious look.

"W-wait! Natsu!" Lucy tried calling for him, but was drowned out by the parting guild.

'That idiot!' She groaned internally.

Lucy saw the same two people from before walk up to her with a welcoming smile.

"Hey Lucy." Erza smiled kindly.

"H-Hi." Lucy said shyly.

'Quit being such a weirdo!' She scolded herself.

"I'm Erza Scarlet and that is Grey Fullbuster." Erza introduced them.

'Those other famous mages like Natsu...' Lucy realized and internally awed over them.

"It's great to meet you guys." Lucy said with a slight smile.

"Thinking about joining the guild?" Grey asked.

Lucy laughed awkwardly and scolded herself for how awful it sounded.

"Um, I don't know...Natsu sort of dragged me here and..." Lucy drifted off. She saw their confused face and felt her cheeks grow hot of embarrassment.

"I guess so?" Lucy choked out, unsure herself.

"That's great. Let's go tell Master." Erza waved her to the staircase.

"Master?" Lucy asked the two as she climbed the stairs.

"He's the guy who runs the guild." Grey clarified.

Lucy nodded and heard Erza bang on his office door.

"Come in." They heard his deep voice say.

'What if he doesn't like me! What if he rejects me, that will be humiliating!' Lucys head swarmed with thoughts as Erza opened the door. 'Im not nearly as tough as they are...'

"Hey Master." Erza smiled and showed Lucy into his sight.

"Who's this?" Makarov pointed to Lucy with his pen.

'Please don't hate me...' Lucy pleaded and blushed from nervousness.

"She wants to join Fairy Tail." Grey smirked and crossed his arms.

Makarov nodded and turned to a bright red Lucy.

"U-Um...I'm Lucy." She introduced herself and avoided his stare.

"Hm..." Makarov grunted in thought.

'I hate this...stupid Natsu, making me come here...' Lucy panicked.

"Alright. Its great to meet you Lucy." Makarov smiled at her kindly. "Come get your stamp."

"W-Wha?" Lucy gaped.

'That's it! Just like that?!' She thought in disbelief.

"You're not going to question me or anything?" Lucy asked him and stepped closer to his desk.

"Should I?" Makarov asked curiously.

"I...guess not." Lucy sighed and took a seat.

"Where would you like it and what color?" Makarov asked as he took out the magical stamp.

"Pink." She answered and pointed to the back of her hand.

Makarov firmly pushed the stamp on her hand and released it, letting colorful bubbles fly everywhere.

"Wow..." Lucy awed at the new stamp that covered her hand.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail." Makarov smiled, along with Erza and Grey. "You are now apart of our family."

Lucy stiffened at that word. She felt her eyes grow sad inside, but forced them to look otherwise.

'Family...'

The three mages noticed her unusual reaction to that sentence, but just shook it off.

"Thank you." Lucy smiled and stood up.

"It was my pleasure." Makarov nodded.

The three exited Makarov's office and closed the door behind them.

"So Lucy, probably should of asked this sooner but are you a mage?" Erza chuckled at her memory and strolled down the stairs.

Lucy laughed a bit and took a seat on a barstool, along with Erza and Grey.

"Yes. I'm a weather mage." Lucy said proudly.

"Weather? That's a rare one." Erza nods.

"Yeah, I get it from my mother..." Lucy drifted off.

'Seems like she has some family problems...' Erza noted for future conversations.

"So, what's a weather mage?" Grey asked to clear the awkward tension.

"I can control the weather." Lucy said perking up. "I can make it rain, shine, create thunder and lightning and tornadoes and hurricanes..."

"And I can fly." Lucy added off of her ramble. "But only for a minute."

"Wow, a lot of things huh?" Grey said impressed.

"Yeah, but what can you guys do?" Lucy asked eagerly.

"I'm a requip mage." Erza said.

"I'm a ice make mage." Grey said right after her.

'They have such neat magic!' Lucy squealed inside of her.

"You guys have great magic, can you show me?" Lucy asked the two. "I've only read about your magic."

'She'd make good friends with Levy.' Erza laughed at her awe.

"Okay." Erza smiled and stood up in front of her.

With a quick flash, Erza requipped into her lightning empress armor, holding her staff.

Lucy awed over how _quickly_ she could do that! Well, she _is_ the Titania.

"Amazing! How many armors do you have?" She asked as Erza equipped back into her chest plate and reclaimed her seat.

"Over 100." Erza answered, impressed she knows so much about her magic.

"Wow." Lucy grinned and turned to Grey.

"Can I see yours?" She asked him.

Grey nodded and thought a moment of what he could show her. He clasped his hands together as a magic circle appeared around them.

"Ice Make Rose." Grey chanted as a beautiful frozen rose appeared in his hands.

"Oh, its so pretty!" Lucy stared at the detailed rose.

It was only a single one, but he got the petal prints just right and the leaves looked so life-like!

"What about you?" Erza asked as she watched Lucy examine Grey's rose.

"What about me?" Lucy asked and saw the rose disappear.

"Show us your magic." Grey snickered.

"Oh." Lucy nodded.

'What could I do...' Lucy thought a moment, tapping her finger on her chin.

"I know." Lucy said and held out her palm in front of the two.

Lucy's eyes went ghost white for a second as a miniature tornado, swirled around and around on her hand. Grey and Erza furrowed their eyebrows and leaned closer, feeling the harsh winds of the tiny storm.

The tornado slowly grew and grew bigger until Lucy thought it was getting a bit dangerous.

"Why did your eyes go white?" Grey asked.

"I don't know, they just do that when I use my powers." Lucy giggled and made the tornado dance along her hand. It actually tickled her a bit.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled as he ran up to her from across the guild.

Lucy gasped at someone calling her name and made the tornado disappear, hiding her hands. It was a habit back with her father, 'practice magic and get punished'.

"Why'd you stop?" Erza asked disappointed.

"S-Sorry..." Lucy sighed in relief it was just Natsu.

"Hey Lucy! What are you guys doing?" Natsu asked as he approached the three.

"Grey and Erza were just showing me their magic." Lucy informed him.

"Oh." Natsu nodded.

"Can you show me too?" Lucy asked, tilting her head.

"I..don't think that's the best idea..." Erza said, worried for the whole guild.

"Oh come on, Erza." Natsu waved at her in reassurance and turned to Lucy.

"I'm a fire dragon slayer." Natsu said proudly and stuck his thumb to his chest.

"A dragon slayer? That's pretty rare." Lucy awed over his magic too.

"Yup! Taught by a real fire dragon! His name is Igneel." Natsu boasted.

'Hasn't all the dragons disappeared from the earth?' Lucy thought.

"Must've been fun." Lucy smiled at him.

"Yeah, he was the best." Natsu agreed and lit his hand on fire.

'Him? Fire magic?' Lucy internally sighed.

"A guy like you, with the capabilities to control fire..." Lucy drifts off giggling.

"I know, it's horrible." Erza sighed in annoyance.

"Hey!" Natsu pouted and crossed his arms as Grey laughed.

"Hey Lucy, are you a mage?" Natsu realized he didn't know.

"Mmhm! I'm a weather mage." Lucy told him.

"Weather?" Natsu asked confused.

"Do the tornado thing again, I liked it." Erza poked Lucy's arm.

"Tornado?" Natsu gaped.

'Can she really create a whole tornado?!' Natsu thought.

"A mini one, Natsu." Lucy giggled and held out her hand again.

Natsu awed over the mini tornado, swirling around and traveling all over her hand. It was tiny, but he could still feel the strong winds from it. He watched closely as it broke apart into pieces and disappeared into the air.

"Fight me." Natsu ordered.

Lucy heard Grey and Erza groaned and slam their heads on the bar.

"Fight you? Why would I fight you?" Lucy asked a bit frightened at the thought of fighting him.

"I want to test my strength on you." Natsu grinned sweetly.

"Natsu, you'd beat me in a second." Lucy denied, waving her hands back and forth.

"Natsu don't make her fight you." Erza scolded him lightly.

"Why not? It is just a friendly battle." Natsu said with a devious smile Lucy didn't like.

"Well sorry, I don't feel like being beat up by the Salamander of Fairy Tail." Lucy joked and crossed her arms.

"You never know until you try." Natsu leaned in closer to her, making her cheeks grow bright pink.

"N-No!" Lucy denied and pushed him back, hearing Erza and Grey snicker.

"Fine, Lucy." Natsu sighed in defeat. "Get your stamp?"

"Yeah." Lucy recovered from him and showed her hand.

"Cool." Natsu nodded and pulled up a seat.

"Why don't we take Lucy on a mission? She should learn to take them since she's new and all." Erza suggested with a smile.

"A mission..." Lucy echoed as she thought about it.

"Yeah, I want to see you in action." Grey smirked, crossing his arms. (Referring to magic)

"I can't fight very well." Lucy pursed her lips. "I didn't use a lot of magic when I was younger."

"Please Lucy! I want you to come!" Natsu whined and shook her shoulder.

Lucy sighed and couldn't help but smile. He was so childish and cute, like a 7 year old.

"Alright, alright, but I might just be in the way." She warned them.

"Of course you won't, it'll be fun." Erza reassured her at patted her arm as she stood up. "Come on, let's find an easy one."

"Easy? No way, I want a hard one!" Natsu complained and stood up as he watched the two head for the board.

"You probably can't even handle the easy job Erza's about pick!" Grey snapped as they followed the girls.

"Shut up, Ice Freak! She's probably only picking an easy one so you don't fall behind like you always do!" Natsu growled as he saw the two look at the board.

"Yeah right! Whenev-"

"SHUT UP!" Erza shouted in their faces, coming out of nowhere.

"YES MA'ME!" The two said, fearing for their lives and hugging each other.

Erza huffed at the idiots and turned back to a giggling Lucy at the job request board.

"One day..." Erza shook her head in anger and annoyance.

"It's okay, Erza." Lucy patted her back.

"Okay." Erza sighed, releasing all her stress and turned back to the board. "Let's see here."

Lucy's eyes wandered the request board in wonder and slight confusion. She saw tons of papers pinned and stapled upon one another in a messy fashion.  
"How can you tell what's easy and what's not?" She asked the red-head.

"Usually by the price of the reward." Erza shrugged and lifted a paper to read another underneath it.

Lucy nodded at her answer and shuffled through the mess of papers. The words confused her a bit, but after a while she got the hang of what it all meant.

"Here, this seems simple enough." Erza said plucking off a job request.

"What's it about?" Lucy leaned over her shoulder to read the details.

"It says to find a missing bracelet that contains great magical power. It has been lost in a forest that holds a psychotic beast that often rampages on..." Erza drifted off on the extra details.

Lucy laughed awkwardly and backed off her shoulder, already have read the last of the page.

"Seems...simple enough." She said reassuringly of Erza's worried expression towards her.

"You sure?" Erza asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine. You guys are Fairy Tail's strongest team after all, right?" Lucy said giving her a smile.

"Of course." Erza smiled back and folded up the paper, turning to Natsu and Grey who were about to start fighting again.

"HEY IDIOTS!" She yelled, startling the two. "We have a job, all ready?"

"Yeah! What do we have to do?" Natsu cheered and ran up by Lucy.

"Find a missing item." Erza said, walking to Mira for approval.

"Find something? But I wanna beat up something!" Natsu whined to Lucy.

"There's a psycho beast on the loose in the forest its lost in!" Lucy said sympathetically to him, trying to boost his mood.

"That sounds good." He gave his signature grin at her, making her stomach flop.

"Good..." Lucy breathed, feeling a bit nervous about the mission.

* * *

**(Yeah, yeah I gave Lucy Storms power from X-Men, why not? Mix things up a bit, hm? Anyways thanks for reading and don't forget to review!)**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	6. First Mission: FAILED

"I'm so BORED!" Natsu complained as he trudged through the forest, along with his team-mates.

"Keep looking." Erza muttered as she searched the ground in front of her as they walked.

"We've been walking for *hours*! Can't she just get another bracelet?" Natsu continued to complain.

"It has special properties, Natsu. I'm sure it's around here somewhere." Lucy smiled at him and dodged tree's in her path.

The four walked for another good hour, looking all over for that tiny bracelet. It seemed very unlikely that they would ever find such a thing in this giant forest.

"Where's that monster? I just want to torch something." Natsu huffed and crossed his arms in annoyance.

"Hm, he's right. Where is that thing? I haven't heard anything the whole time we've been here." Lucy wondered out loud.

"Must be a big forest." Grey shrugged and continued to walk.

"Did she give any hint of where she lost it?" Grey asked raising an eyebrow as he dragged his feet from exhaustion.

"She said it was around stream." Erza told him.

"What stream." Natsu muttered under his breath.

"QUIT COMPLAINING." Erza said quietly, but laced with venom as she glared daggers at him.

"Sorry!" Natsu cried and hid behind Lucy, hugging her on his knees.

Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot and sighed, puffing them out. She patted his head and watched as Erza leaned on a nearby tree.

"It's getting dark, should we wait till morning?" Grey asked the three, unconsciously stripping his shirt, already have lost his jacket somewhere.

Erza sighed and looked to the darkening sky. "I suppose."

"Natsu, make a fire." She ordered and cleared a few stray twigs for her sleeping place.

Natsu gathered a few nearby twigs and set fire to them, letting the warmth cover the four. Everyone settled down around the fire and tried falling asleep in the nerve-wracking forest. Natsu, of course, was the first to fall asleep, followed by Grey, then Erza. Lucy felt like she couldn't sleep, though. She just stared at the light that danced across her friends faces from the fire, that was beginning to die out.

For some reason, her eyes always found their way back to Natsu's face. She couldn't help but stare at how *innocent* he looked as he slept soundly. He was too cute and quiet, this honestly shocked her. Her eyes widened in realization that she just called Natsu cute, feeling a hot blush rise to her cheeks.

'Did I just call Natsu cute?' She thought blushing harder. 'No, no...I can't. Don't even go there Lucy.'

Lucy shook her head trying to rid the perverted thoughts about him and tries sleeping again. Her shut her eyes closed, hoping the darkness would just take over and send her snoring, but to no avail. She sighed internally and opened her eyes, seeing the fire has completely gone out, leaving her in the dark of the night. She felt goose bumps crawl over her body of nervousness and inched closer to her friends.

Lucy giggled softly to herself as she heard someone's stomach growl loudly. Probably Natsu, he always seems hungry. She looked back up to his face, feeling her stomach flutter from seeing his peaceful state. She felt another blush overtake her cheeks as her eyes wandered to his _very_ well-built body.

'Quit Lucy! Don't be such a pervert!' She scolded herself and shut her eyes closed.

Her eyes shot open as she heard another growl in the darkness. Who was so hungry it was _that_ loud? She heard another growl erupt from somewhere behind her, feeling a shiver crawl down her spine.

'No one is behind me...' She thought, eyes widening.

Lucy very slowly turned from her side, almost onto her back, glancing behind her from where she heard the growls. She felt a gasp get caught in her throat as she saw a pair of _very_ angry red eyes glare at her through the dark of the night. Her eyes tore away from the angered ones to see the giant and bulky body that held the menacing eyes. It was brown and furry with white sharp teeth which was covered in drool, also pouring out of its mouth. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen. In person anyways.

The beast let out another threatening growl as it watched Lucy very slowly turn to her stomach, eyes never leaving her.

'What do I do?! I can't wake up anyone without setting off this thing!' She panicked and she continued to stare at the angered beast. 'I should lead him away from everyone else, but where? I guess anywhere, they're defenseless right now.'

Lucy laid her hands on the ground flat, slowly pushing her body upwards. She stopped mid-way when the beast growled and took a half step forward. She let go of her breath she was holding slowly, and continued to get to her feet. She crouched low to the ground, feet now planted firmly as her eyes never left the beasts.

Lucy began to stand up straight, but an ugly snarl was heard from the unusual beast, startling her. She felt her heart pound rapidly in her chest, feeling as if to explode.

'Just relax...' Lucy thought and shut her eyes as she continued to straighten her legs.

She opened her eyes to see the anger in the beasts red eyes begin to flare as more drool pooled onto the forest ground. She took a step back away from her snoring friends and the beast, preparing to make a run for it.

'I'm going to hate myself for this, but-'

Lucy cut off her thought as she sent a high-powered lightning strike right in front of the beast, taking off down the forest. She heard the beast roar furiously and take off after her, running on all four legs. She dodged trees and hanging vines and ran as fast as her legs could take her and heard the growling and snarling beast begin to close in on her.

'So unfair! He has four legs!' She thought as she began to breathe heavily.

Lucy sent a blind thunder zap behind her, not even daring to stop and turn around and aim at the beast in case he was close by her. She heard a fire start crackling behind her from the zap, but continued to run. The beast roared from behind her in anger, much closer than she had thought. She felt the drool that shot from his mouth soak up the back of her shirt and felt her heart pound rapidly in her chest.

Lucy rounded a couple of tree's and thought of an idea. Her pupils turned white as she flew into the sky, summoning a great thunderstorm.

'Maybe this will slow him down.' She thought hopefully.

Lucy felt herself be drowned in water from the intense rain that now fell harshly. Her hair clung to her soaked face as she slid around in the mud puddles throughout the forest. She sent another blind lightning shock behind her, hearing the beast cry out in pain, then in rage.

'Not strong enough! I need to look at him!' Lucy thought as she splashed around in puddles and heard the harsh rain pour down on top of her.  
She felt her legs become weak and weary of running and the beast begin to close in on her.

'I wish I could fly for longer amounts of time...' She wished and dodged more trees.

Lucy saw herself come across a very steep cliff, overlooking the same stream the lady for the job was probably talking about. She slowed down, so not to run off the cliff and shot herself around, feeling her wet hair cling her face. She stared wide-eyed at the soaking wet beast that growled and snapped at her as it inched closer, slamming its giant paws in puddles of mud.

Lucy furrowed her eyebrows at what was caught in between the beasts claws. What was that? A necklace? Her eyes widened, realizing it was the bracelet they had been looking for the whole time.

'Now how the heck am I going to get that?' She thought bitterly.

Lucy saw the beast roar in fury, red eyes blazing as it pounced on her, digging its sharp claws into her arm. She held in a scream and used her other arm to send a powerful tornado of wind, making it fly back onto the ground near the forest and causing mud and water fly up. It snarled angrily and ran full speed at her, retracting its large teeth.

Lucy felt a lump in her throat as the beast glared at her, obviously meaning murder for her. She blinked away the rain that stung her eyes as they fell into them and flew up into the sky, pupils whitening. She sent with all her power a lightening zap at the beast. The thing howled in pain at the shock of the zap and crouched to the floor, curling up into a ball near the edge of the steep cliff. Lucy meanwhile kept at the lightning, but had to land back to the ground. She saw the storm clouds above her jumble up into one, swirling from all around the forest in a circle as it created more continuous lightning and fell to her knee's. She felt all her power be used up and finally let up on the beast. She struggled to catch a breath and watched the beast lay still on the very edge of the cliff. She began to rise to her feet when she heard her friends call out to her.

"LUCY!" They yelled from across the cliff, all drenched in her pouring rain.

Lucy turned around wide-eyed and saw them run towards her worried out of their mind. She lifted a hand to wave at them, signaling she was alright, but was cut short when she felt something snatch her leg right from under her.

'Wh-what's going on?' She thought.

She felt the beasts paw grip her ankle tightly as he began to slip off the edge from all the rain.  
Lucy shrieked and fall onto her stomach, feeling herself being pulled off the edge with the beast.

"LUCY! NO!" Natsu yelled as he watched her be dragged off the cliff.

Lucy felt her fingernails about to be ripped off as she dragged them across the muddy ground, trying to hold on for dear life.

'The bracelet! I can't let it fall!' She remembered suddenly.

Lucy cried out in pain of her fingers and felt them release the cliff. She felt herself begin to fall miserably into the rain but felt a strong hand, tightly grasp her wrist. She shot her head up, feeling the harsh rain pelt her skin and saw Natsu holding onto her, peeking his head over the cliff as Grey and Erza prevented him from falling over too.

'I need the bracelet and he can't lift us both up!' She thought, despretely trying to think of an idea.

"Hold on, Lucy!" Natsu said above the rain.

"No! Let me go!" Lucy shouted to him, feeling out of breath from just talking.

"Wh-What? No! I won't!" Natsu shouted and tried hoisting her up, but failing from the weight.

"Just let me go!" Lucy shouted and tried wiggling out of his grasps.

"NO!" Natsu screamed as Lucy slipped her wet hand through his grasps. "LUCY!"

Natsu, Grey, and Erza looked over the edge to see Lucy and the beast falling down the cliff. Their vision of the two was soon blinded by the fog of the rainstorm and saw the two disappear from their eyes.

"NO!" Natsu cried as the three bolted to go down to the river.

The three ran panickly through the pouring rain and the tree's, nearing the stream that Lucy fell down into.  
'She promised, she promised, she promised...' Natsu thought, feeling something sting his eyes. 'She's okay, Please be okay..'

* * *

The three saw a sandy shore appear through the drenched trees and swinging vines and ran down to it.

"Where is she!" Grey shouted as they all looked left and right for her.

"Come on!" Erza yelled and began running down the riverbank.  
Despite being hard to see through the pouring rain and fog, after running for a couple minutes, they all distinctively saw a blonde head of hair up ahead.

"LUCY!" Natsu yelled for her.  
The three approached the blonde head of hair, finally letting the rain light up to a drizzle.

The three stood dumbfounded and utterly glad at what stood before them. They saw Lucy sitting on the dead beast, legs stretched out with ankles crossed and had a wide grin plastered on her face.

"Glad you guys finally were able to join me." Lucy said grinning and held up the bracelet for the view.

"LUUUCYYY!" Natsu cried as the three tackled her in a hug into the calm stream.

"What the heck just happened!?" Erza cried and they suffocated her.

"G-Guys..." Lucy choked out from their death grip.

The three let go of her and sat in front of her, so relieved she was alright.

"Don't ever do that again!" Natsu scolded her and stuck his face right in hers. "Don't make me drop you!"

Lucy felt herself blush and smiled at him.  
"Sorry, Natsu." She said ruffling his cute pink hair.

Natsu sighed at her and recaptured her into a hug, making her blush harder.  
"I thought I lost you..."

Lucy returned his hug and wrapped her arms around his back, feeling her stomach flutter.  
"I'm not _that_ weak." She giggled.

"But still..." Natsu said into her drenched hair and embraced her tighter.  
"I'm alright, Natsu. I planned it all along." Lucy said as he hesitantly pulled back.

"So what _did_ happen exactly?" Grey asked still confused at what happened.

Lucy groaned in exhaustion and laid on her back, staring up to all of their faces.

"It's a long story." She sighed.

"All we heard was a lightning strike that woke us up and we saw you were missing. Then it started to randomly pour down and we heard a lot of lightning zaps from the forest and we found you by the cliff." Erza explained to her.

"Yeah, while you guys were sleeping I kept hearing growling from behind us and _that_ thing was staring right at us." Lucy said pointing to the dead beast, feeling goose bumps cover her from the thought of his eyes. "I got up slowly knowing he was about to pounce and lead him away from you guys. I knew you were asleep so I didn't want you all getting hurt and I ran for a long while actually."

"Why didn't you wake us up!" Natsu scolded her. "We could've helped!"

"I couldn't without setting it off! And it was quicker to do what I did." Lucy explained to him, then continued. "Anyways after I led him to the cliff he tried getting me but I got him first. And you saw the rest, I thought he was dead already, but he wasn't...and he dragged me off."

"Lucy, why did you make yourself fall! We could've made the thing fall and pull you up!" Erza scolded her lightly too.

"He had the bracelet, I couldn't let him fall or else we would've lost it." Lucy explained innocently.

"Who cares about the bracelet!" Grey exclaimed.

"What? That's the whole reason we came here!" Lucy laughed and tossed the rhinestone bracelet in his hands.

Lucy sighed and stood up unsteadily, looking at their guilty stares.  
"What?" She questioned them.

"You're hurt." Natsu stood up and held her arm to look at it.

Lucy looked to see bloody scratch marks cover her left arm from when the thing tried to snatch her.  
"Oh, yeah. I'm alright." She took her arm back.

"We should get that checked out." Grey said as he and Erza stood up.

"Its okAAY!" Lucy said startled when Natsu picked her up in his arms, feeling herself blush madly.

"Natsu, what are you doing?" She asked him, wrapping her arms around his neck for balance.

"You're hurt." Natsu replied blushing a tad, giving a grin at her.

"My _arm's_ hurt." Lucy told him with a ghost of a smile.

"But I'm sure you're tired too." Natsu said as they began walking down the riverbank.

Lucy felt her heart tingle in joy and her cheeks burn hot despite the cold water she was just drenched in. She really didn't deserve such a sweet guy to look out after her. She sighed and rested her head on his chest as they walked back to the lady's house. She felt his unbelievably comfortable warmth surround her like a blanket, she loved it when he was close or hugged her. She always felt safe in his arm's, she wished to hug him all the time.

'Quit thinking like that Lucy!' She scolded herself.

Lucy felt her tired arms drop from around his neck and fall to his chest by her face. She felt her eyelids grew heavy from his warmth and soon drop completely as she snuggled closer to him. This was the best she felt in years...

* * *

**Yay! First mission! Thank you all for reading and for the _glorious_ reviews! **

**DONT FORGET TO VOTE FOR NEW STORY**

**Choice 1: The Visitor Choice 2: The Orchid**


	7. Going Home

Lucy awoke sometime later, still feeling Natsu's strong arms around her, giving off heat. She cracked open her eyes and saw a blurred picture of Natsu's pink hair. She blinked a few times and let her sight clear up, groaning from the harsh sunlight.

"Mornin' Lucy." Natsu joked as he glanced down to her.

'Where are we? How long was I out?' Lucy thought as she tried to look around her.

"Were in Magnolia." Natsu said reading her mind.

"How long was I asleep?" Lucy asked groggily.

"Only a few hours." Natsu shrugged as he walked.

Lucy watched as the four of them saw Fairy Tail come into their vision.

"You can put me down, now." She told him.

It was bad enough hearing the snickers from Erza and Grey, she didn't need the whole guild seeing him holding her too.

"Sure?" Natsu raised an eyebrow as they climbed the stairs.

"Yes..." Lucy flushed as she heard the others snicker.

Natsu put Lucy to her feet and kicked open the door loudly.

"We're back, everyone!" Erza yelled and entered the guild.

Cheering erupted from the guild mates and welcomed them back.

"Hey Levy, show Lucy to the infirmary!" Grey shouted to her, interrupting her reading.

"Okay!" Levy shouted back and bounced in front of Lucy.

"Hello, I'm Levy Mcgarden!" She introduced herself with a bright smile.

"Hi." Lucy said shyly with a slight smile.

"Let's check out that wound, hm?" Levy said taking her hand and leading her to the infirmary.

"Are you the doctor here?" Lucy asked as she entered the room filled with beds and medical supplies.

"No, we don't exactly have one." Levy laughed and signaled her to sit on a bed. "Whoever is free can help each other, if they know how to dress a wound. Usually Wendy can help but she's on a mission."

"Wendy?" Lucy questioned as her eyes followed Levy as she brought out a first aid kit.

"She's a sky dragon slayer with healing powers." Levy said as she dabbed her arm with alcohol.

"Right, sky magic. Read a lot about that too." Lucy nodded and felt her begin to wrap gauze around the scratch marks.

"You read a lot?" Levy asked eagerly, growing a smile.

"Yeah, I love to read all the time!" Lucy answered smiling.

"Me too!" Levy squealed and hugged her. "No one else in the guild reads as much as me, I'm glad I have you now to talk to!"

"Glad to help." Lucy laughed and felt Levy pull away.

"Well, you're all fixed up. How did that mission go?" Levy asked her and sat on the neighboring bed facing her

"It was an interesting first mission." Lucy chuckled and shook her head.

"Natsu and Grey destroy everything?" Levy guessed.

"No, didn't have the time too." Lucy replied with a grin. "A monster was about to attack us while the others were sleeping so I lead it away before it hurt them."

"That was nice." Levy smiled at her.

"Yeah, they were defenseless at the moment except me. Good thing I couldn't fall asleep that night." Lucy sighed in relief.

"Thanks for looking out for our friends." Levy thanked her.

"It was nothing." Lucy waved her hand. "I couldn't let anything happen to the strongest team in Fairy Tail."

The girls giggled and stood up from their beds.

"Thanks for helping me." Lucy said pointing to her wrapped arm from her shoulder to elbow.

"No problem." Levy smiled and opened the door to the main hall for Lucy.

"So what type of books do you like to read?" Lucy asked as she dodged drunken and fighting guild mates, following Levy.

"I love history books but I also like Mystery." Levy said as she sat in a booth next to Gajeel.

"Really? Me too, I like Romance though." Lucy smiled and sat across from the two, next to Pantherlily.

"Ah, Lucy. This is Gajeel Redfox." Levy introduced the man eating scrap metal.

"Hm." Gajeel huffed and snapped off a piece of his shard.

"Let me guess, a iron dragon slayer? I'm hoping." Lucy laughed.

"Yep! Just like Natsu!" Levy patted his arm.

Lucy felt a bit intimidated by the pierced man, he looked sort of scary in a way, but he seemed to be good friends with Levy so she felt better.

"Have you read Superstitious by Emanuel Stephans?" Levy squealed and leaned closer.

"Not yet, I want too though!" Lucy said disappointed.

"I have a copy, want to borrow it?" Levy asked pulling out the book.

"Really? Are you sure?" Lucy asked as her eyes widened. Emanuel Stephans was her all-time *favorite* author.

"Of course, Lu-chan!" Levy giggled and slid the book over to her.

"Found another bookworm, shrimp?" Gajeel joked with a slight smirk.

"Yes! Isn't it great!" Levy clasped her hands in excitement.

"Thanks so much, Levy! I'll make sure to take care of it." Lucy smiled and stood up from her booth.

"No problem, Lu-chan. See ya!" Levy waved goodbye.

Lucy sighed and held the book close to her chest as she spotted Erza at the bar. She was talking to a pretty bar-maid that Lucy saw from earlier. Lucy strolled over, nervous of the pretty girl and hesitantly sat by Erza.

"Hey Lucy." Erza greeted.

"Hello." Lucy smiled and put the book on the counter.

"Met Levy?" Erza raised an eyebrow with a smirk.

"Yeah, she's great!" Lucy said holding in a cheer that someone read as much as she did.

"That's good, I knew you two would become good friends." Erza nodded and turned back to Mira, who was cleaning a glass.

"Hello, Lucy. I'm Mirajane Strauss, but call me Mira." She smiled sweetly at her.

"Hi, Mira." Lucy said softly.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" Mira asked her.

"Have a vanilla milkshake?" Lucy asked her.

"Of course! I'll get you one." Mira said and took off to make it.

"She's nice." Lucy told Erza with a smile.

"Yeah, she's like the mother-figure of the guild. She's always caring for everyone." Erza told her.

'Mother-figure, huh?' Lucy thought.

"I'm sorry, did I say something wrong?" Erza asked in a guilty tone, seeing her eyes lower in despair.

"W-what? No, no! Nothing wrong." Lucy laughed a bit and waved her hands for emphasis.

'Was I looking sad, why don't I notice anymore?' She thought holding in a groan of annoyance.

"Are you sure? You may punch me for upsetting you." Erza said and bowed her head for the blow.

"P-punch you? It's okay, really!" Lucy told her. "You didn't upset me."

Erza lifted her head and stared at her, trying to find the truth in her brown eyes. Lucy felt her palms get sweaty from her intense stare and shifted a bit uncomfortably.

"Alright." Erza said in defeat. "Don't let me upset you again, though."

Lucy sighed at her stubbornness and couldn't help but smile at her. She felt happy to have friends, to have people to care for now. She didn't feel as lonely anymore, she felt loved. She didn't know if these people truely did care for her, but she hoped so because she cared for them.

"Here you go, Lucy." Mira smiled and put the glass in front of her.

"Thank you." Lucy smiled and scooted the drink closer to her mouth.

"Let me know if you need anything else, alright?" Mira said and walked off to serve another customer.

Lucy nodded at her and sipped on the rich and thick milkshake. It took a minute for it to make it up the straw, but as soon as her tongue met the creamy ice cream she fell in love with the taste.

"Hey guys." Grey said, suddenly sitting in the stool next to Lucy.

"Hi Grey." Lucy pulled away from her straw as spoke with her mouth full, almost spilling out of her mouth. She covered her mouth with her hand and turned back to the counter. She was taught it was very unlady-like to do that.

Lucy felt herself flush of embarrassment when she heard the kind-hearted chuckles of both Grey and Erza.

"Don't worry, Flame Brain does that too, but 10X worse." Grey snickered.

"What'd you say Ice Block?" Natsu said coming up to him with Happy on his shoulder.

"I said you can't eat like a human being." Grey snapped at him.

"Yeah! Eat like an Exceed!" Happy cheered as Lucy and Erza began to laugh lightly.

"Whatever Underwear Prince." Natsu huffed and pointed to his pants on the floor by the column.

"CRAP!" Grey shouted and ran for his pants.

Natsu laughed at him and claimed his seat by Lucy.

"Get cleaned up, Lucy?" Natsu asked as he saw her drinking her milkshake.

"Mmhm!" Lucy hummed from her straw and showed her bandaged arm.

"Natsu burn you, Lucy?" Happy asked, fluttering in front of her on the counter.

"Wha? Happy, no I didn't!" Natsu shouted at him. "I would never hurt Lucy!"

Lucy felt her cheeks grow warm and heard Erza and Happy giggle.

"Just kidding Natsu." Happy told him.

Lucy sighed as she finished her delicious milkshake and pushed the cup back. She glanced out the window and saw it was already dark outside.

"I should be heading home." She said to the three.

"Oh, right!" Erza caught her attention and held out a stack of jewels. "Here."

"What's this for?" Lucy asked taking the money curiously.

"The mission you completed." Erza smiled.

"We." Lucy smiled and took her book off the counter. "Thanks, I almost forgot."

"No problem, Lucy. See you tomorrow." Erza waved.

"Bye." Lucy waved to them, backing away from them. Her eyes met Natsu's, seeing his worried expression all over his face.

'Should I leave her alone?' Natsu thought as he watched her retreat away from him. 'What if something happens? Should I watch her?'

Natsu watched as she opened the door, letting the cool night breeze in through the guild. He saw her halfway out the door, but turn back to him with a small smile. His concerned eyes met her soft brown ones, feeling his stomach knot up for some reason. He saw Lucy wink at him reassuringly about his doubt and disappear out the wooden doors into the night.

Natsu felt his face burn hot for some reason and turned back to the counter. He sighed and saw Mira smiling unusually big at him.

"W-What?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing." Mira shrugged and turned away from him, still smiling.

* * *

"I haven't been home in forever." Lucy sighed to herself as she balanced herself on the edge of the river.

"Be careful, Lucy!" The fishermen yelled. "Don't fall in, now!"

"Thanks guys!" She laughed to them and jumped off the railing as she arrived at her apartment.

Lucy opened her door to the complex and slid the money from Erza under her landlady's door for rent. After sighing in relief she wasn't home so that she couldn't yell at her for being a day late, Lucy climbed her flight of stairs and finally got inside her room. She clicked on the light and tossed Levy's book on her bed as a reminder to begin reading it.

Lucy took a long and steamy shower, doing what she usually did. She doesn't know why, when whenever she takes a shower or bath she just feels like releasing her pain and cry during it. The secluded atmosphere helps a great deal and privacy.

Lucy reminisced over her memories of when she was happy with her family. She felt guilt and rage course through her body of what she had done to them. Warm tears slid down her face, joining with the water from the showerhead as they both dripped off her chin. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle a sob trying to escape her throat.

'I'm so sorry, everyone...' She thought as she silently cried.

_Michelle was hit by a train. Her boot got stuck in the track while she was running across..._

Lucy heard another sob overpower her hand and shut her eyes. She felt more and more tears pour out of her closed eyes and let her head hit the wall underneath the showerhead gently.

"It's all my fault..." She whimpered and shook her head in disgust of herself.

_The reason for you to continue living on in this world is to keep me and Fairy Tail company_.

Her eyes opened in remembrance of her promise. She found herself giving a small smile, picturing Natsu's face.

'I so got scammed out of a two-way promise.'

* * *

**Sorry if it wasn't very interesting, but I'll make up for it. :) Thanks for reading anyways, don't forget to review!**

**DONT FORGET TO VOTE FOR NEW STORY**

**Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**


	8. You Like Him

After her shower, Lucy changed into her night clothes, which was just a T-shirt and underwear. She turned off her overhead light and turned on her small lamp by her bed. She snuggled up into her pink sheets and grabbed Levy's book to start reading.

* * *

Lucy read until she fell asleep with the book on her face. She felt the warm sun shine through her window next to her bed and hit her face. For some reason she felt unusually comfortable, _really_ comfortable actually. She felt really warm, like there was a heater right next to her. She unconsciously scooted closer to the heat source and felt something help with pulling her closer. Wait, what?

Lucy eyes opened to meet a _very_ muscular chest, partly covered by a black and gold vest. Her hands felt the strong abs and chest as she was snuggled up to him. She felt her cheeks flush and looked up, only to have her heart skip a beat.

"Natsu?" Lucy said softly.

Lucy felt his strong arms around her back and shoulder pull her closer to him, making the top of her head hit his chin. She blushed 50 shades of red and felt butterflies in her stomach. Why is he here? How did he find where I lived? WHY IS HE IN MY BED?'

Despite the random invasion of her property and her personal space, she couldn't get herself to move. She felt too comforted by his warmth, by his smell of bonfires on the beach. She felt safe in his arms and never wanted to leave.

Lucy looked up to see his cute and innocent face once again. She just couldn't believe the crazy Salamander of Fairy Tail who is notorious for destroying everything in sight can look _this_ peaceful.

'Maybe I can get out of here without waking him...' She thought.

Lucy started to slowly shift upwards, thinking his arms would just fall off her meanwhile. Her head hit the pillow Natsu was sleeping on and stole a glance of his face again.

'He's _really_ cute...' She thought staring at him, but shut her eyes. 'No, no, no. No he's not!'

Lucy _thought_ his arms would move off her now, but they only have seemed to tighten around her more. She blew a hair out her face. Maybe she should just wake him up.

"Natsu?" Lucy said to him. Her face was a little above his, but figured it would work.

"Natsu?" She said a bit louder, blushing harder with every moment.

Natsu strengthened his arms around her, pulling himself into the crook of her neck, inhaling her sweet scent.

Lucy felt her heart leap in her chest. She couldn't help but giggle when he did that, his hair tickled her face and she couldn't move!

"Hmm?" Natsu groaned, hearing her giggle and her body move along with it.

"Natsu?" Lucy said a bit louder.

"Hmm." Natsu groaned, saying he's awake.

"How did you find where I lived?" Lucy asked him.

Natsu lifted his head from her neck and put it right in front of her on the pillow. Lucy felt herself blush pink as she stared at him, his eyes weren't fully open, but the fact he was awake now made her embarrassed.

"Hey Lucy." Natsu grinned at her, not removing his iron grip.

"Hi..." Lucy breathed out, seeing his eyes were now open.

"You smell really good, and your bed is really comfy." Natsu said.

"Thanks...what are you doing here?" Lucy asked him and fiddled with his vest.

"Came to check up on you." Natsu replied.

'Does he not get what that wink meant? Or he just doesn't trust me at all...' Lucy internally sighed.

"How did you find where I lived?" She asked him.

"I can follow your scent." Natsu grinned at her.

"Okay, now why are you sleeping in my bed?" Lucy asked with a hushed tone.

"It smells like you and its comfortable." Natsu said with an obvious tone.

"Aye Sir!" Happy cheered groggily and poked his head up from behind Natsu.

'Happy too? Really?' Lucy thought.

Lucy noticed Natsu was still holding her and blushed, avoiding his eyes.

"What's wrong? You're getting all red." Natsu said looking at her blush.

"U-Um, you're still holding me..." Lucy said softly and fiddled with her blanket.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I like being close to you." Natsu said with a slight blush and was grinning sheepishly. He let go of Lucy and sat up to stretch.

Meanwhile Lucy felt her heart about to explode in her chest along with her crimson face.

'He likes being near me?' Lucy thought and tried to calm her heart.

"Natsu, I'm hungry!" Happy whined and plopped on his head.

"Yeah, yeah. Me too." Natsu yawned.

Lucy sat up in bed and noticed what she went to sleep in and almost shrieked. She quickly pulled the blankets till her stomach and blushed harder.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked, noticing her gasp.

"I-It's nothing!" Lucy looked away from him to the floor and clutched her sheets.

"Alright, see you at the guild." Natsu shrugged and hopped out the window.

"Bye Lucy!" Happy waved and flew after his owner.

'I just practically snuggled with Natsu in nothing but a T-shirt and underwear. What a wonderful life.' Lucy thought and let out a cry into her hands.

'It's worse that I _liked_ it! That's horrible!' She thought. 'What's going on with me?'

Lucy locked her window and shut the curtains over it in case they came back for something. She saw Levy's book be closed and put on her nightstand.

'Natsu do that?' Lucy wondered.

She got up and got dressed in a flowery skirt that was mid-thigh and a plain beige shirt tucked into it.

* * *

She walked down the paved street to Fairy Tail and already heard the tables shattering and people fighting before she even walked inside. She sighed at her rowdy guild mates and walked in, ducking to dodge a beer mug being thrown somewhere.

"Sorry Lucy!" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Lucy laughed awkwardly and darted to Mira's bar from further harm. She took a seat next to a pretty white-haired girl and a very buff man that both kind of looked like Mira.

"Hi, Lucy." Mira greeted as she dried a glass.

"Hello." Lucy smiled a bit, feeling uncomfortable around the others.

"These are my younger siblings, Lisanna and Elfman." Mira introduced them.

"Hi Lucy! Its great to officially meet you." Lisanna waved to her with a smile.

"Introductions are MANLY!" Elfman cheered.

"Hi..." Lucy said shyly.

"Don't be shy, Lucy! We're friends right?" Lisanna poked her arm.

"Yeah." Lucy laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head.

'How can everyone befriend me so easily?' She wondered with a smile.

"Hungry, Lucy?" Mira asked her.

"A bit. Have any eggs?" Lucy asked her politely.

"Sure!" Mira said and took off to prepare them.

"So, Lucy. How are you liking the guild so far?" Lisanna asked as she sipped on her drink.

"It's really something." Lucy sighed with a grin.

"Yeah, it really is!" Lisanna laughed. "I'm glad you like it."

"Me too." Lucy said, unsure if that made any sense.

"Gone on a mission yet?" Lisanna asked.

"Yeah, I came back from my first one yesterday." Lucy told her.

"Here you are, Lucy." Mira said as she placed the plate of eggs down in front of her.

"Thanks, Mira." Lucy smiled at her and picked up the fork.

"Hey, Lisanna can you go down to the basement for more ingredients? Cana is driving us out of our beer supply." Mira sighed.

"Sure." Lisanna said and disappeared into the crowd.

"Cana?" Lucy questioned her as she chewed.

"Ah, Cana Albarona. Fairy Tail's heaviest drinker." Mira said and pointed to her drinking a barrel of beer.

"Dang.." Lucy said as she watched her jug the whole thing, beer spilling down her neck onto her bikini top.

"Yeah, she has a bit of a problem." Mira laughed and shook her head. "But she's alright, she just told Gildarts she's his daughter." Mira informed her.

"Gildarts?" Lucy questioned once again.

"He's Fairy Tail's strongest guy. Behind the Master of course." Mira giggled and took Lucy's empty plate.

"Wow, so he's S-Class?" Lucy asked her and leaned on the counter in anticipation of her answer.

"Mmhm! He visits from time to time." Mira said.

"Who else is S-Class?" Lucy asked her eagerly.

"Erza, Mystogan, but he's in another world, Laxus, and me." Mira said to her.

"You?" Lucy gaped.

"Yeah, I don't like to fight much but I will to protect my friends." Mira laughed. "I'm the She-Demon."

"Take Over magic?" Lucy awed over her.

"Yeah." Mira nodded.

"Wow, I never knew you were She-Demon! That's so cool." Lucy sighed in envy.

"Can you show me?" She asked curiously.

"Right here?" Mira tilted her head.

"If its okay with you, you don't have too." Lucy waved her hands.

"It's alright." Mira smiled and walked around the bar to Lucy.

"Sorry, I love seeing magic in person. I usually just read about it." Lucy apologized sheepishly.

"No apologies." Mira smiled.

In a black mist explosion, Mira changed from her sweet and innocent dress to her Satan Soul armor. The black smoke disappeared around her as she stood in front of Lucy, hearing the guild silence.

"Did Lucy just piss off Mira?!" Someone said in a frightened tone.

Mira smiled a bit as Lucy clapped with a big grin.

"What is that one called?" Lucy asked her, unnoticing the stares she and Mira were getting.

"Just a regular Satan Soul." Mira said with a smirk.

"M-Mira?" Levy stuttered as she came up behind her.

The guild knew Mira almost *never* transformed unless it was a dire situation. And when she did, she was beyond scary. They all wondered what her and Lucy were talking about.

"What?" Mira said normally as she turned to Levy. She and Lucy noticed the whole guild staring at them.

"Did something happen?" Erza asked strongly as she approached the two.

"Oh, you all worry too much!" Mira said sweetly and transformed back into her pink dress. "Lucy just wanted to see my magic!"

The entire guild let out a breath of relief they had been holding.

"That's good, we thought Lucy angered you or something." Levy sighed.

"I think I would be dead by now if I had." Lucy laughed.

"You guys flatter me." Mira said blushing and walked behind the counter again.

The guild soon returned to their normal rowdiness and fighting.

"You really like seeing magic, huh Lucy?" Erza smirked as she sat next to her.

"Yeah, I've always loved seeing it. When I could." Lucy shrugged shyly.

Erza laughed a bit at her and turned to face the counter.

"So what's it like?" Lucy asked her and rested her head on her palms.

"What's what like?" Erza asked.

"Being a S-Class mage." Lucy clarified.

"Not that big a difference actually." Erza shrugged and took her drink from Mira.

"Really?" Lucy asked.

"I guess its okay, I mean we get to take S-Class missions of course, but it is a lot of responsibility." Erza said and drank from her mug.

"I understand, it must be tough doing those type of missions." Lucy nodded.

"Yeah, but if you have enough smarts they're not as hard." Erza joked. "Which is why most people in here aren't S-Class."

"Just kidding, shh." She added with a smile as Lucy laughed.

"You know I never got the chance to thank you." Erza said after a moment.

"Thank me?" Lucy questioned.

"For protecting us back at the forest. That was a brave thing to do, so thanks." Erza smiled at her.

"Thanks, that means a lot from you." Lucy grinned sheepishly.

'The Titania just said I was brave!' She cheered internally.

"I'm sure Natsu and Grey mean it too, but those idiots forgot completely." Erza sighed in annoyance.

"It's alright, there's no need." Lucy said.

"Too bad I wasn't there, I would've like to see how your magic worked first hand." Erza poked her arm. "All I saw was giant storm clouds and heard lightning."

"Maybe next time." Lucy laughed.

"Okay, I should go yell at Grey and Natsu. See you, Lucy." Erza said and stood up to leave.

'Next time...' Lucy echoed her words. 'I should probably go on another mission for next month's rent...'

'Should I go alone?' She wondered and looked to see Natsu and Grey knocked out on the floor with Erza towering over them. 'They're in their own team, I shouldn't invade them, they just helped me with that one mission.' Lucy decided and stood up, walking over to the job request board.

After shuffling through a number of jumbled pages she finally picked one that was her level. Easy, that is.

'Watch over a child for a couple hours and protect her.' Lucy read the paper.

'Seems easy enough.' She shrugged and went over to Mira.

"Hi Mira." Lucy greeted her.

"Hey, Lucy. What can I do for you?" Mira asked, leaning on the bar.

"I saw this mission I want to take. Do you approve it or something?" Lucy asked and slid the paper in front of her.

"Yeah, but alone?" Mira asked with worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, it will be fine." Lucy reassured her.

"Nonsense! NATSU, GREY!" Mira called for them.

"Mira! They don't need to come!" Lucy whined and tried covering her mouth.

"Mmuu! Hmmm!" Mira kept trying to yell.

"Yeah, Mira?" Natsu said coming up with Grey.

Lucy sighed and let go of Mira's mouth.

"Well, you see Lucy here is trying to go on a solo mission." Mira giggled deviously.

"W-well-"

"Why?" Natsu asked, hardening his gaze at her.

Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot of embarrassment of the boys stares.

"I just thought I would...I mean you're on a team and..." She tried to explain and avoided their stares, glaring at Mira who was just giggling.

"I thought she was on our team." Grey said looking to Mira for clarification.

"Yeah, you are on our team, Lucy." Natsu said softening his expression towards her and grinning.

"I just thought you helped me with that one mission, you don't need to watch over me, I can just go alone." Lucy said shyly, feeling like she is a child being scolded.

"But we want you to join..." Natsu drifted off, giving her puppy eyes.

"R-Really?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

'Fairy Tail's strongest team is asking _me_ to join? Out of all people?' She thought, staring at them.

"Yeah, of course." Grey smirked and crossed his arms.

"W-Why?" Lucy asked them, furrowing her eyebrows in suspescion.

"We want you to join because you're nice and we like having you around." Natsu grinned at her with the faintest pink covering his cheeks.

Lucy felt her heart warm up again by his words. 'They like it when I'm around? Are all friends like this?'

"O-Okay." She smiled and gave a slight nod.

"Yeah!" Natsu cheered and gave her a bear hug.

Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot, but her breath escape her from his strength.

"N-Natsu..." She breathed out.

"Ah, sorry Lucy." Natsu apologized and put her back on the ground.

"This is great!" Mira squealed at the two.

"So what mission did you pick out?" Grey asked stepping forward.

"Oh, I was just going to babysit a child, but we can do a different one if you'd like." Lucy said waving the paper around.

"Babysit?" Grey questioned.

"Well just protect a kid for a couple hours." Lucy clarified.

"No fighting?" Natsu asked and began to pout.

"If that kids lucky." Lucy joked and put the paper in his hands. "Go choose a different one."

"Okay!" Natsu said cheering up and went to the request board.

"Idiot." Grey tsked at him, now missing his pants.

"Um, your pants...are missing." Lucy said blushing.

"CRAP!" Grey shouted and ran off to find them.

Lucy sighed and heard Mira giggling behind her.

"Aren't you glad I called them?" Mira snickered.

"You didn't have to do that. Now I'll just hold back Fairy Tail's strongest team." Lucy whined and sat in front of her.

"No you won't, Lucy. Have faith in yourself." Mira told her and leaned on her elbows.

"And I'm sure Natsu is happy your coming too." She added with a knowing smile.

"W-Why do you say that?" Lucy blushed.

"That's why." Mira smirked and pointed to her red face with a finger. "You like him."

Lucy felt her stomach knot up and a lump in her throat as she turned crimson.

"W-what? No I don't!" She tried to deny.

"I knew it! I knew it!" Mira squealed and clapped her hands.

"Mira! I do not!" Lucy whined and tried to quit her cheering.

"Hey Lucy! Found a good one!" Natsu ran over and placed the request in her face and his chin on her shoulder.

If Lucy could get redder she would.

Mira squealed louder and made Lucy lower her head in embarrassment.

"What are you guys doing?" Natsu asked.

"Nothing, what job did you pick?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"Oh here." Natsu said and looked over her shoulder as she held it.

"Defeat a group of robbers hiding in an abandoned building." Lucy read out loud.

"Good?" Natsu asked her from beside her.

"Sounds fine." Lucy muttered and gave the paper to him.

"Cool, Mira can you stamp it?" Natsu asked her and stood up straight.

"Of course." Mira smiled at a glaring Lucy.

"Thanks Mira, ill tell Erza." Natsu waved and ran into the crowd.

"I think he likes you back." Mira whispered to her.

"STOP!" Lucy whined loudly. "I don't like him, he doesn't like me!"

'She's in total denial.' Mira sighed internally.

"Okay, okay Lucy. Just a cute thought I just had. You guys _would_ be cute together." Mira told her seriously.

"No we wouldn't." Lucy pouted and crossed her arms stubbornly.

"Good luck on that mission, Lucy." Mira giggled and left to serve Cana another round.

Lucy watched Mira leave and tried to calm her pounding heart.

'That Mira, where does she even come up with that stuff?' She thought and held her chest.

"Lucy! Ready to go!" Erza yelled from the doors.

"Y-Yes!" Lucy yelled back, still trying to calm her heart.

'Why is my heart freaking out?' She thought and walked by her three friends. 'What is going on?'

* * *

**Yaay, new mission! I just thought I would upload before going to see Iron Man 3, so :D! Thanks for reading and review!**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	9. You Love Him!

"Okay, there are three floors full of them and four of us." Erza said quietly as they stood behind the building.

"So one person on every floor except one will have two people." Grey whispered.

"Can't we just go in already?" Natsu complained.

"I think its better if we have a plan, Natsu." Lucy whispered and patted his back.

"...Fine." Natsu mumbled and crossed his arms.

Grey and Erza stood dumbfounded at the two. Usually _no one_ can get Natsu to stay put whenever thinking of a plan. It would take Erza to knock him out or a bribe attempt for him to not just destroy everything. How could Lucy do it so easily?

"Guys?" Lucy waved her hand in front of them.

"O-oh, right." Erza cleared her throat. "So, yeah. Two people on one floor and the others on the higher floors..."

"Sounds good." Lucy said and peeked behind the tree they were hiding behind.

"Who gets what floor?" Grey asked.

"Does it matter?" Natsu sighed impatiently.

"I suppose not." Erza said standing up.

"Great! Let's go!" Natsu cheered and ran for the doors.

"Natsu! We're not finished yet!" Erza called after him, but he ignored it.

"Looks like he has the first floor." Lucy sighed and watched him barge in.

"I'll get third and you two can get second." Erza declared as they walked to the side of the building.

"How can we get up?" Grey asked looking at the high windows.

"I'll take you." Lucy said holding out her hand for Erza.

"You can?" Erza asked taking her hand.

"Yeah." Lucy smiled and pulled themselves into the air.

"Right, I forgot you can fly." Erza laughed in nervousness as she flew.  
"Can you get in?" Lucy asked as Erza grabbed onto the window frame.

"Yeah, thanks Lucy." Erza said climbing in.

"No problem, my times about up." Lucy said and started to float down.

"Well, AHH!" Lucy shrieked as she fell three feet from the ground on her face.

"You okay?" Grey asked her.

"Yeah, my flying is limited. Really annoying actually." Lucy laughed awkwardly and stood up.

"Here we should go in too, I think I hear Natsu about to blow the place up." Lucy said and flew him up to the second floor window.

"Yeah, he overdoes it a lot." Grey rolled his eyes at him and climbed through the window.

"Okay, we're in. Where is everyone?" Lucy asked as she got in the window.

"Let's search for them." Grey said and kicked the door open with a devious smirk.

Lucy watched as Grey ran out of the room and heard shouts coming from the bandits on that floor. She heard Grey chant his magic and ran to the other side of the floor.

"Hey!" A bandit yelled as Lucy rounded a corner.

Lucy shrieked and dodged flying swords coming from everywhere. She watched as they passed her and punctured the stone wall behind her and breathed a breath of relief.

Lucy turned back to the large group of robbers and quickly shot an intense blast of wind from her hands. She watched the group grunt and fly back into the back wall, making large craters underneath them. A few got back up unsteadily and glared at her.

Lucy watched as the men charged her, throwing punches and kicks left and right. She managed to dodge most of them, but someone got a good punch to her staggered backwards and used the wall as a support for not falling.

"Ow, that hurt." She said softly as she rubbed her sore nose.

Lucy glared at the group of men and clasped her hands together, generating electricty. She retracted her hands as lightning shocks surrounded them and threw bolts and zaps at them as if they were baseballs. The men shrieked in pain as shocks of electricty traveled throughout their bodies.

Lucy created a large ball of lightning and threw it at the remaining men, sending them into a vortex of electricty and frying them unconscious.  
She sighed in annoyance of them and heard chuckling behind her. She prepared another zap and turned around, prepared to throw it at the robber.

"Hey! It's alright!" Grey flinched and held up his hands.

"Grey? Are you done?" Lucy asked as she powered down and walked over to him.

"Yeah, we all are. I just came to find you." Grey said and pointed behind him.

"Oh. Okay." Lucy sighed.

"Looks like those guys got on your nerves or something." He smirked and looked to the smoking pile of robbers.

"He punched my nose." Lucy whined quietly and rubbed her nose.

"Alright, well now I know not to anger you." Grey said raising an eyebrow.

"Just don't punch me and you're fine." Lucy joked and began walking down the hallway.

* * *

"Ah, Grey! Good, you found her." Erza said as she watched them exit the burning building that shone brightly in the dark of the night.

"You okay, Lucy?" Natsu asked as they approached them.

"Yeah." Lucy nodded.

"She got punched in the face, apparently." Grey laughed.

"It hurt!" Lucy smacked his arm gently.

"Well, we overdid it." Erza sighed after a moment, staring at the burning building begin to collapse.

"Should we put the fire out?" Grey asked the three.

"We probably should so the Royal Guards aren't hurt trying to get all the robbers inside." Erza said.

All eyes turned to Lucy as she stared at the building.

"Lucy! Make it rain!" Natsu said pointing to the sky.

"O-Oh." Lucy noticed them looking at her.

Lucy's pupil's whitened as she was lifted into the sky. Her arms were stretched above her as the three watched storm clouds appear out of nowhere and cover the entire city.

The three heard thunder roll in from the clouds and watched as Lucy landed, feeling the rain begin to downpour.

"Let's get to a hotel!" Natsu said above the loud patter of the rain.

* * *

The four mages ran to a nearby hotel, hoping to get out of the miserable rain. Erza checked them in for that night and and lead them to the hallway where their rooms were.

"We'll get our reward tomorrow then head back to Magnolia." Erza said and stopped in front of her room door.

"Okay, night guys." Lucy waved and opened her room door.

She closed her door behind her and sighed.

'I could use a shower.' Lucy thought and headed towards her bathroom.

Lucy turned on the warm shower and undressed her dirty clothes. She sighed in relief as the warm water pelted her skin and her face. She already felt tears swell up in her eyes as her mind automatically went to remembering her family.

'Does this have to happen every time I take a shower?' She thought as she felt tears slide down her face.

Lucy cried and let her head fall under the showerhead to the wall gently. She felt the cool tile press against her warm forehead as she remembered when her mother would feel her forehead when she thought she had a fever. She cupped her mouth to muffle the sobs she began to cry and squeezed her eyes shut as tears poured out.

_Bang!_

Lucy opened her eyes and wondered what that noise was outside.

'Was that my door?' She wondered and turned off her shower.

Lucy wrapped herself in a towel and sniffed her runny nose as she opened the door into her suite. The cool room air made goosebumps appear on her warm skin and spread as she cautiously stepped outside the bathroom, dripping wet.

"Hey Lucy." Natsu waved as he and the others sat on her room couch.

Lucy's red eyes widened and felt her face flush in embarrassment.

"What are you all doing in my room?" She asked and held her towel tightly in case it fell.

"We just came to hang out." Grey shrugged and put his feet up on the coffee table.

"Something wrong, Lucy?" Erza asked concerned and stood up, noticing her red and puffy eyes.

"What?" Lucy asked them as their expressions turned from normal to worried.

"Why we're you crying?" Natsu asked and stood up along with Erza.

'Crap, crap, crap.' Lucy thought and tried to come up with a lie. 'How can they always tell?'

"Oh, I just got some shampoo in my eye." Lucy laughed a bit and looked away from them.

"Are you sure?" Erza asked knowing it was a lie.

"Yeah, it just stung me really bad and it hurt." Lucy gave an awkward smile.

"Okay..." Erza sighed and sat back down on the couch.

Lucy's eyes met with Natsu and had a feeling he knew the real reason why. Her eyes darted away from his and began to back up towards the bathroom door again.

"Well, I should get changed." She said and hurriedly went into the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

'Quit making them worry about you!' Lucy scolded herself and felt tears finally escape her eyes. 'Stop being such a wimp.'

Lucy wiped her eyes and face of tears and changed into a T-shirt and shorts to sleep in. She forced back her leftover tears from the shower she didn't finish and put on a smile as she came back into her bedroom.

"QUIT FIGHTING!" Erza yelled at the two, making them squeal and cower.  
"Yes Ma'me!" They said in fear.

Lucy sighed at the three and took out Levy's book from her pack.

"Whatcha got there?" Grey asked from the couch.

"Just a book from Levy." Lucy said and showed him the cover.

"Eh, books are boring." Natsu sighed and played with his fire that covered his fingers.

"Have you ever read a book?" Lucy argued and crossed her legs on her bed.

"Nope, and don't plan too." Natsu said.

Lucy rolled her eyes at him and cracked open the book from where she stopped last time.

"How much was our reward again?" Grey asked.

"All together it was 280,000 jewels." Erza answered.

"Really? So we each get 70,000 jewels?" Lucy asked looking up from her book.

"That's about it." Erza nodded.

"Perfect." Lucy smiled and continued to read.

"How is it perfect?" Natsu asked her.

"My rent is 70,000 jewels a month." Lucy answered, not even looking up.

"For that apartment?" Natsu asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

"It's a decent apartment!" Lucy denied and flipped the page forcefully.

"How would you know what it looks like?" Grey asked looking at Natsu.

"He broke in and slept in my bed." Lucy said as she read.

"Nice." Grey shrugged at her answer.

"It's not nice, he shouldn't be breaking into people houses by their windows!" Lucy gaped at their calmness.

"Yeah, yeah Lucy." Natsu replied and sent a mocking grin towards her.

Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot at his grin and glared at him.

"Whatever." She huffed and slammed her book shut.

"Well I guess I'm going to go to sleep." Grey sighed and stood up from his couch.

"Yeah, its getting late and we're waking up early tomorrow." Erza agreed and stood up.

"Why early?" Natsu whined.

"So we can catch our train." Erza told him and dragged him off the couch by his coller.

"Night, Lucy." Grey said as he opened the door for Erza and a squirming Natsu in her hand.

"Goodnight Lucy!" Natsu yelled as the door slammed shut and the light turned off.

Lucy sighed and turned on her lamp next to her. She snuggled deep into her soft sheets. Her mind replayed Mira's words from earlier unconsciously and found herself blushing all over again.

_You like him_.

Lucy pulled the sheets over her head and whimpered at the thought.

'Do I like him?' She thought. 'I shouldn't like him, something bad might happen to him. But do I like him?'

Lucy pictured Natsu innocent face as she caught him sleeping. She felt butterflies in her stomach as she pictured his adorable pink hair and that crooked grin that made her heart melt.

'Please tell me I don't...' She prayed and closed her eyes.

_You like him._

Lucy felt her heart jump at her words and popped her head up out of the sheets."Dang it Mira." She muttered and laid her head on the pillow face down. "I freaking like him..."

'How did this happen, Lucy?' She asked herself. 'I said I wouldn't love anyone else if I didn't want them to get hurt. You're a bad luck charm, Lucy. You _can't_ love him.'  
"Why is my life so screwed up..." Lucy muttered to herself. "I'm in love with that pink-haired idiot."

* * *

**Im so sorry guys! I went away for church camp for a week and totally forgot to upload before I left so I apologize. I hope you liked this chapter (Yay Lucy likes him!) and thanks for reading everyone!**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	10. Prepare For The Picnic!

"WE'RE BACK!" Natsu shouted to his guild mates as he kicked open the guild doors.

"WELCOME BACK!" The guild roared and continued to do whatever they were doing.

"Naaatssuuuuu!" Happy cried and flew into his owners arms.

Lucy laughed at Happy drenching Natsu in tears and walked to Mira's bar.

"Hey Lucy. How was the mission?" Mira asked as she cleaned a glass.

"It was alright." Lucy shrugged and took a seat in a barstool.

"Annything haappenn?" Mira mocked and leaned in front of her, batting her eyelashes.

"M-Mira!" Lucy scolded her blushing.

"Is that a yes?" Mira asked eagerly.

"N-No! Nothing happened!" Lucy denied.

"Dang it." Mira pouted and leaned back with a sigh.

"Can I have a milkshake?" Lucy asked after she calmed her face to a normal color.

"Sure, vanilla right?" Mira asked.

"Yep." Lucy popped.

"Okay." Mira said and took off to make it.

Lucy sighed and leaned on the bar counter, resting her head on her arms. She didn't get much sleep last night, she was kept up by all her thoughts of a certain fire dragon slayer that wouldn't leave her mind.

"Need a drink?" Cana asked Lucy, holding out a mug as she sat on the counter next to her.

"Oh, no thanks. I don't drink." Lucy smiled and sat up.

"Missing ouut." Cana slurred and drank it herself.

"You're Cana Albarona right?" Lucy asked the drunk girl.

"Yep." Cana said through the mug.

"Nice to meet you." Lucy smiled and laid back down.  
"Something bothering ya?" Cana asked.

"No, not really." Luch held in a sigh and turned to face her. "What kind of magic do you have?"

"Card Magic." Cana answered.

"Cool. Mind if you show me?" Lucy asked.

Cana nodded and pulled out an explosion card. She threw it lazily and ended up blowing the wooden pillar to bits and splinters.

"Good?" Cana slurred.

"Y-Yeah." Lucy smiled awkwardly at her.

"Here you go, Lucy." Mira said and placed the glass in front of her.

"Thanks Mira." Lucy smiled.

"Hey you guys, make sure you prepare a dish in two days okay?" Mira said to the two.

"A dish? For what?" Lucy asked as she sipped on her rich milkshake.

"I thought the guild could have a picnic together! Wouldn't that be great?" Mira clasped her hands in excitement.

"A picnic? Where?" Lucy asked.

"Maybe on that cliff right outside of Magnolia. You know the one that overlooks the ocean." Mira thought out loud.

"Sounds cool, Mira." Lucy smiled at her.

"Yes so I want you guys to prepare something, alright?" Mira told them.

"You know I don't cook Mira." Cana said chugging her barrel.

"Do it!" Mira hissed, frightening the two.

'She isn't called She-Demon for nothing...' Lucy thought and cowered at her glare.

"HEY EVERYONE!" Mira shouted, returning to her sweet gaze. "EVERYONE LISTEN UP!"

The guild silenced at Mira's shout and turned towards her.

"Okay everyone, I have decided to plan a picnic!" Mira squealed in excitement.

"A picnic?" Gajeel raised an eyebrow.  
"Yes, on the cliff right outside of Magnolia! Everyone is to bring something to eat, alright!" Mira declared, no one daring to disobey her.

"When?" Levy asked from the crowd.

"In about two days!" Mira told everyone. "Is that okay Master?"

"Sounds just fine, Mira." Makarov said from across the room on the counter.

"ITS SETTLED EVERYONE PREPARE SOMETHING FOR THE PICNIC IN TWO DAYS!" Mira shouted loudly and heard the guild cheer in agreement.

'A dish, huh? What should I make?' Lucy wondered as the guild returned to normal.

'Maybe a cake? Yeah, I'll make a cake.' She decided and finished off her milkshake.

Lucy's mind automatically went to her and her mother baking a cake together. Before she was too sick, Lucy's mother did manage to still spend time together, baking goodies, reading together, playing in their large backyard. She felt tears sting her eyes at the lost memories of them.

"..ucy?"

_Lucy saw her mother, smiling and singing as she adjusted the ovens temperature. She felt giddy inside, Lucy was finally learning how to bake!_

_Now remember Lucy, don't touch the oven unless you have a mit on, okay? If you do it will burn you and hurt a lot._

_Yes, Mama!_

'You killed her.' A voice said in her mind.

"Lucy!" Natsu yelled in her face.

"H-Huh?" Lucy asked, blinking back tears.

Lucy was knocked out of her trance and saw Mira, Natsu and Cana staring at her with worry.

"Are you okay, Lucy?" Mira asked leaning forward.

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired, I'll see you guys tomorrow." Lucy faked a smile and pushed back more tears as she stood up.

"Lucy." Natsu called for her as she stumbled to the doorway and exited into the rain.

"What's wrong with her?" Cana asked.

"She was fine a minute ago." Mira said softly. "She looked like she was about to cry..."

'What did she think of now?' Natsu thought as he stared out the door she just left through.

"Natsu why don't you go check on her?" Mira asked with a sweet smile.

"Y-Yeah..." Natsu said and bolted out the door.

Natsu felt the rain pour all over him, soaking up his vest and pants and making his hair fall flat. He looked left and right for her, but didn't see her anywhere close by. He sniffed his humid air and caught her sweet scent he adored and ran down the slippery pavement. He heard the rain patter on the water of the river next to him and felt drips fall off his nose and chin.

He looked up to see Lucy's apartment light on and climbed up to her ledge of her window. He peeked through and saw Lucy, soaking wet and crying in the middle of her room. Her eyes were squeezed shut and her fists were balled up, tightly gripping onto her skirt. He felt his heart hurt from watching her suffer like this.  
Lucy let out a sob and fell to her knees slowly, covering her face with her hands.

Natsu quietly opened her window and stepped over her bed onto her carpet. He saw she didn't notice him and crouched in front of her sobbing form. He brought his hands to her wrists and gently pulled them away from her tear-stained face, staring into her pretty brown eyes.

"Natsu?" Lucy choked on a sob and stared at him.

Natsu stared at her and watched her continue to cry and hang her head down.

"I'm so pathetic." Lucy shook her hanging head in disgust of herself.

Natsu stayed quiet and let go of her wrists, pulling her into a hug, shocking her. He tightly wrapped his arms around her torso and buried his head in her drenched hair. He listened to Lucy cry harder and wrap her arms around him, sobbing into his neck. He felt her tears stream down his neck and her grip tighten on him.

"You're not alone anymore, Lucy." Natsu said softly and rubbed the back of her head.

Natsu felt her grip tighten around him and her cries continue to get louder.

"I can't get them out of my mind..." Lucy sobbed, barely able to make out her words.

"I know, Lucy." Natsu said and stroked her hair.

Natsu felt his own tears sting his eyes. He couldn't _stand_ watching her like this. It hurt him inside knowing he couldn't do anything to help her except for a shoulder to cry on. He just hoped she wouldn't be sad anymore, she wouldn't cry everytime no one was around her. He even knew she was crying in the shower back at that hotel, he could tell. He just didn't know _what_ to do about her.

'I should stay with her tonight.' Natsu decided and continued to console her sobs.

* * *

Once again, Natsu held Lucy for hours until she fell asleep in his arms.

"Lucy?" Natsu said softly, testing to see if she was awake or not.

Lucy continued to be silent and dream on his shoulder.

Natsu lifted up Lucy and carried her to her bed. He shifted her under her sheets and pulled them to her chest, watching her snuggle up to them. He sighed softly at her sleeping and tear-stained face and wiped away her tears with his thumb.

Natsu turned off her light and climbed into her bed next to her, careful not to wake her. He scooted closer to her and wrapped his arms around her waist, burying his face into her sweet-smelling hair. He wanted to make sure she didn't get up while he was asleep and do something stupid. He pulled her closer to him, feeling butterflies in his stomach and heard her sigh in her sleep.

"You'll be okay, Lucy."

* * *

**Aww, how cute. Thanks for reading everyone, I appreciate it! Remember to leave a review and tell me what ya think, kay?**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	11. To Bake A Cake

Lucy awoke the next afternoon, still feeling exhausted from all that crying from last night. She felt a comforting heat behind her and felt a strong arm around her waist, preventing her from leaving the bed.

'Natsu?' She thought, feeling herself already blushing.

Lucy turned around to face Natsu and turned hot pink as she realised how close their faces were, but didn't move. Their noses were about to touch as Lucy watched him sleep peacefully.

'How could he stay here all that time?' She wondered and fiddled with his scarf tussles.

'He really is too sweet for me. Much more than I deserve.' She thought and stared at his adorable face. 'How does he put up with a wreak like me?'

"Mmm, Lucy?" Natsu said and cracked open his eyes.

"Hi, Natsu." Lucy said into his face with a slight smile.

Natsu fully opened his eyes and felt a light blush cover his cheeks at how close Lucy's face was.

"I'm sorry." Lucy said and looked into his dark eyes.

"For what?" Natsu asked her.

"Making you go through all that last night. You didn't have to stay..." Lucy drifted off and looked away from him.

"I couldn't just leave you like that, Lucy." Natsu told her. "I would always help you when you needed it."

Lucy felt a bashful blush cross over her cheeks and her stomach knot up.

"Well, thanks...then." She said softly and kept her eyes away from his. "You didn't have to stay over, either."

"I had to make sure you were safe, though." Natsu grinned sheepishly at her and pulled her closer, making her blush crimson. "I didn't want you doing something stupid again."

"O-Oh..." Lucy answered and felt her heart about to explode out of her chest.

Lucy hesitantly sat up, trying to hide her red face and stretched her back.

"What time is it?" She asked and rubbed her eyes free of lingering tears.

"Not sure, looks pretty late though." Natsu said and looked out the window to see the sun high in the sky.

"Hm, I'm going to get changed." Lucy informed him and went to her closet for her clothes to pick from.

Lucy opened her closet door and shuffled through tops and bottoms and dresses.

"What are you going to make for Mira's picnic?" She asked him and pulled out a top to look at.

"I don't know, what about you?" Natsu asked.

"A cake..." Lucy said softly, pausing for a minute to push away old memories trying to resurface.

"Can I help?" Natsu asked, noticing her sudden stop.

"Y-Yeah. Course you can." Lucy said, knocking out of her trance and picking a skirt along with the top. "But I need to go shopping."

Lucy smiled at Natsu groan of annoyance and went inside the bathroom to change. She quickly did, and went outside to see Natsu shuffling through some papers on her desk, reading them all.

"Hey Lucy, what's all of this?" He asked, still looking at her desk.

"STOP!" Lucy shouted and snatched the mess of papers out of his reach.

"What?" Natsu questioned her sudden outburst.

"Don't touch these." Lucy ordered as a blush crawled across her cheeks.

"What are those?" He asked trying to take them, but Lucy moved them behind her back.

"It's nothing, just don't read this." Lucy said avoiding his dark eyes.

"It looked like a story. Are you writing one?" Natsu asked her, letting a small smirk come across his lips as he watched her flush of embarrassment.

"It's not a story! Just-Don't read this!" Lucy stammered and blushed madly.

"Alright, alright Lucy. Come on, let's go shopping." Natsu chuckled and turned away from her.

'Crap!' She thought.

Lucy and Natsu shopped for cake ingrediants all around Magnolia. Well, Lucy did most of the shopping and buying while Natsu just accompied her. With them both carrying bags of grocries back to her apartment, Lucy opened the door to her room and lead him into the kitchen to set down their heavy bags.

Lucy plopped the bags down on her counter as Natsu set the down on her island on the stove.

"Alright, now we have to make it." Lucy laughed and clasped her hands.

"Ugh, really? How long will _this_ take?" Natsu sighed.

"Oh come on, it will be fun." Lucy reassured him and began unpacking her bags. "Plus, I can use you as my oven."

"How am I your oven?" Natsu raised an eyebrow and watched her take out everything and place it neatly on the counter.

"Well, you can bake it quicker than my oven so it will save time." Lucy smiled to herself and pointed to a cabinet by the sink. "Can you get the mixing bowl?"

Natsu went over to the cabinet she pointed at and opened the door to see a mess of bowls, smaller ones stacked in the bigger ones and on every shelf.

"Which one?" He asked her.

"Just get a big one." Lucy said and took out the cake mix she bought for the instructions.

Natsu sighed and pulled out a big glass bowl filled with smaller bowls. He took out the smaller ones and placed the big one by Lucy.

"Good, now let's see." Lucy said and read the box for the measurements.

"Okay, we need two eggs, a cup of milk, and two teaspoons of butter added to the mix." Lucy read off the box and put it on the counter.

"What?" Natsu asked her and watched as she put the powdery mix in the bowl.

"Get the measuring cup." Lucy said and shook out the plastic bag free of excess mix.

"Where is it?" Natsu asked, looking around him.

"Cabinet above you." Lucy said and grabbed an egg to crack.

Natsu looked above him and found the cup she was talking about, placing it in front of her.

"Okay...now you can get the milk. Have you never baked a cake before?" Lucy asked and she cracked her other egg.

"Nope." Natsu said and got the milk out of the fridge.

"That's sad, well pay attention this time." Lucy smiled at him and held out the cup for him to pour the milk into.

"Where do I stop?" Natsu asked as he poured the milk into the cup.

"Till the top, its small." Lucy told him and looked behind her to glance at the instructions again.

"Yeah, one CUP! STOP!" Lucy said as she saw the milk begin to spill out of the measuring cup.

"Quit shaking it!" Natsu said and held the milk jug out of the splash zone.

"Really Natsu?" Lucy scolded him and ran to let the milk drip in the sink, but slipped on some on the floor.

Natsu watched as Lucy shrieked and fell to the floor with a thud, milk flying all over her. She lay still on the floor, face-first and sighed loudly.

"L-Lucy?" Natsu said, scared what she was about to do for him.

He had yet to see an angry Lucy, but he had a feeling he didn't want too. He watched as she turned on her back, hearing milk splash everywhere and broke out laughing.

"Lucy?" Natsu said and walked over by her.

Lucy laughed loudly and covered her face with her milky hands, shaking her head.

"You're really pathetic." She laughed and rolled around in the milk uncontrollably.

"Says the girl rolling around in a puddle of milk on the floor." Natsu grinned at her and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, but its all your fault." Lucy giggled and held up her hand for his help.

"You had to try and run with the milk." Natsu said and took her hand.

Lucy tightened her grip on his hand and pulled him down into the giant puddle along with her. She burst out laughing again at how he fell and splashed milk all over each other.

"What the-Lucy!" Natsu shouted as his clothes became wet, along with his hair.

Lucy kept laughing and shoved his head gently.

"That's what you get for not listening to me." She giggled at his expression.

"I did listen!" He grinned and gently shoved her head back.

"Not very well." Lucy giggled and stood up, feeling milk drip down her legs to her feet.

"Whatever you pour it then, I'm just the oven." Natsu joked and stood up along with her.

"Well then, Oven clean this up while I pour." Lucy said pointing to her milk-covered floor.

Natsu huffed and went to go find towels for the milk. Meanwhile, Lucy poured the milk in the cup carefully, and poured it into her mixing bowl.

"This enough?" Natsu asked walking in with a stack of towels.

"More than enough." Lucy smiled at him and turned back to her bowl.

Natsu laid out the towels on the tile floor and got them to soak up the milk.

'Lets see, now I need butter and a measuring spoon...' Lucy thought and turned to see Natsu on floor wiping up the mess.

Lucy walked on his towels and over his crouched body to her utensils drawer. She rummaged through her drawer and pulled out a teaspoon, now looking for a whisk.

"Hey, can you get out the butter?" She asked him as she continued to look in her drawer.

"Yeah." Natsu replied and went to the fridge.

"Here it is." Lucy said to herself and pulled out the metal whisk, closing the drawer.

"Now what?" Natsu asked as he held out the plastic tub in front of her.

"Now, we just have to add two teaspoons of butter, then we're ready to mix." Lucy said and lead him back to the bowl.

Natsu handed her the tub and watched as she peeled off the cover and set it on the counter.

"Here." Lucy smiled and held out the teapsoon for him to take.

Natsu took the spoon cautiously and held it, ready for her next instructions.

"Just scoop up some to fill the spoon and put it in the bowl." Lucy sighed at his lack of knowledge.

Natsu did as instructed and put two spoonfulls of butter into the bowl, along with the rest of the ingrediants.

"Good, you didn't mess up." Lucy joked and laughed at his expression.

Lucy grabbed the whisk and began to mix the bowl, watching everything combine into a goopy substance. She stirred continuiously in circles till her hand became tired and sighed.

"Can you take over? I'm tired." She asked holding out the bowl to him with puppy eyes.

"Alriight." Natsu couldn't help but grin at her cute face and took the bowl.

Lucy saw Natsu begin to stir and went to find her cake pan. She rummaged through pots and pans under her stove and managed to yank out the pan she was looking for.

Lucy walked over to the counter and placed the pan down. She glanced to Natsu and the bowl and saw it was good enough to pour.

"Okay, come here." She told him and waved him over.

Natsu stopped stirring and gave Lucy the bowl. He watched her grab a spatula from a drawer and return to the pan.

"Okay, hold it still for me." She instructed and prepared to pour it into the pan.

Natsu held down the pan and watched her pour the gooey mix into the circular pan.

"What after this?" He asked and watched her scrape the sides of the bowl for excess mix into the pan.

"The Oven finally does his job." Lucy smirked at him and lifted the empty bowl away from the pan.

"Here." Lucy gave him the cake mixed spatula as she held the whisk.

"What?" Natsu asked her and saw she began to lick it.

"Lick it, Natsu." Lucy giggled and continued to lick her whisk.

Natsu raised an eyebrow at her and licked the side of the spatula. He shrugged and continued to lick it until it was clean.

"Okay." Lucy said licking her lips and placed the whisk in the sink.

"Now what do you want me to do?" Natsu asked and did the same with his spatula.

"Here, just heat it up." Lucy said and placed the pan in his hands.

Natsu set his hands ablaze, fire spewing around the pan for a second, making Lucy flinch and step back. He chuckled at her expression and continued to bake the cake in his hands.

"Good." Lucy smiled and watched the cake solidify quickly.

"After this are we done?" Natsu asked and watched her pull out a can of frosting.

"Nope, the best part it yet to come." Lucy smirked at him.

Natsu sighed nervously of her smirk and saw the cake rise up through the circular pan. It actually began to look like a cake.  
"Okay, that's good." Lucy glanced to the cake and pulled out another spoon.

Natsu quit heating the cake and walked over by Lucy who was pulling out a large plate.

"Just flip it over." Lucy instructed him and pushed the plate by him.

"Flip it?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, upside down." Lucy told him.

Natsu didn't quite understand but turned the pan upside down on the plate. He watched Lucy take a spoon and hit it all around the edges loudly.  
"Why are you hitting it?" Natsu asked her.

"So it un-sticks." Lucy smiled at his confused expression.

Lucy quit hitting the pan and slowly lifted it upwards. She looked to the side to make sure it wasn't messing up her perfectness and lifted off the pan.

"Perfect!" She clasped her hands and awed at the perfect circle cake she just made.

"Now, let's frost it." She grinned and handed him a small tub of cream cheese frosting.

Natsu opened the tub and stuck his finger in to lick off the sugary frosting.

"Stop." Lucy scolded him and took the tub away from him.

"Tastes good." Natsu grinned at her and licked his fingers.

Lucy softened her expression and did the same, laughing as she licked her finger.

'It's nice to hear her laugh and not cry all the time .' Natsu thought and stared at her joyed expression as she spread on the frosting with another spatula.

"...su?"

'She doesn't even look like a person who would be so sad. I wonder if I should ask someone for advice, but should I tell them about all she does?' Natsu thought.

'She never said I couldn't, but I'm not so sure she would like that.'

"Natsu?" Lucy called him out of his thoughts.

Natsu snapped awake and saw a blushing Lucy staring at him.

"What are you in such deep thought about?" She asked with a sweet smile.

"Oh, nothing." Natsu answered feeling his cheeks grow hot.

'How long was a staring at her? It only seemed like a minute...' He thought.

"Alright, want to do the sprinkles?" She asked and pulled out a shaker of rainbow sprinkles.

"Sprinkles? Really?" Natsu raised his eyebrow with a grin.

"Why not?" Lucy asked frowning like a child.

Natsu sighed and took the shaker from her, feeling his heart tingle by her cute expression.

Lucy observed closely as Natsu shaked the sprinkles all over the frosted cake and became showered in a rainbow. He finished and closed the cap, putting it on the counter.

"It's great! Thank you, Oven!" She squealed and hugged him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Glad you're happy, Lucy." Natsu replied and returned her hug.

"Now, I can take a shower. I'm still covered in milk, thanks to someone." Lucy said and pulled back to give him a look.

"You shouldn't of squirmed so much." Natsu grinned at her.

"You shouldn't of kept pouring when there was obviously no room left in the cup." Lucy shot back, tilting her head.

"Why'd you get such a small cup?" Natsu argued.

"It's the only one I had." Lucy rolled her eyes and realized they still had their arms around each other and blushed.

"S-So yeah, I'm going to take a s-shower." She stuttered and let go of his neck.

"Alright, Lucy." Natsu said and let go of her waist.

Lucy felt her face burn hot and ran into the bathroom, pressing her back against the door. She realized how disgusting she felt, feeling dried and sticky milk all over her body and hair and cake mix that splattered from time to time all over her shirt.

Lucy sighed and ran her shower, feeling the relief of all the mess running off her body. She hummed a song and thought over the whole process of baking the cake with Natsu, sometimes laughing all over again. She hadn't felt so happy doing something in such a long time. She felt as if she was drunk off the pleasant feeling and stepped out of the shower, now squeaky clean.

Lucy's eyes widened and put a hand to her cheek. She froze right on the spot

'I didn't cry?' She thought in absolute disbelief. She _always_ cried in the shower, she's been doing that since her mother died. Every shower, every bath, she's cried.

'Why didn't I do it that time?' She wondered and wrapped a towel around herself.

Lucy remembered she only thought about Natsu and her the whole time. She even _laughed_ at times.

Lucy found her growing a smile at the mental picture of Natsu in her mind.

'He really is changing me.' She thought and stepped out of the bathroom.

"Hey Lucy, I'm gonna head home. I'm sure Happy has been looking for me." Natsu grinned sheepishly, realizing he spent the entire day with Lucy.

"Y-Yeah, go ahead. You've been stuck with me long enough." Lucy waved her hands with an awkward smile.

"I'll see you at the guild tomorrow, kay?" Natsu said and climbed out of her window.

"Okay." She said to his retreating form.

Lucy sighed and changed into her night clothes. She climbed into bed and read Superstitious for a bit, then fell asleep, dreaming of the man she loves.

* * *

**Yay, new chapter! I honestly didn't know where I was going with this because I haven't baked a cake in like 2 years buut, I hope its alright. Thanks for reading and don't forget to REVIEW!**

**OH PLEASE READ THIS IF YOU WANT TO VOTE FOR A NEW STORY! Okay, so I've already written pretty far into a bunch, so im going to let you guys decide between 2 stories, just based off the name.**

** Choice 1: The Visitor or Choice 2: The Orchid**

**VOTE NOW! Either PM or Review. :) Love yas!**


	12. Picnic Part 1

"Hey, Mira!" Lucy greeted as she sat down in a barstool, placing the covered cake on the counter.

"Hi, Lucy! What did you bring?" Mira smiled at her.

"A chocolate cake." Lucy told her.

"Ooo, nice. We're all about to leave in a few." Mira smiled and went to pack up some supplies.

Lucy watched the guild laugh and converse about the upcoming picnic later that day. She didn't know how it was to turn out considering it was starting to drizzle when she arrived, but figured it would pass quickly.

"Hey Lucy." Erza greeted and sat next to her.

"Hi." Lucy waved a bit.

"What did you bring?" Erza asked.

"Chocolate cake." Lucy smiled and showed her container.

"Man, hoping it was strawberry." Erza sighed in disappointment.

"I'll make you a strawberry one next time." Lucy laughed and patted her shoulder. "What did you bring?"

"Strawberry cake." Erza said with hearts in her eyes.

"R-Really?" Lucy laughed awkwardly.

"I'm looking forward to this, we haven't done something like this in a while actually." Erza said and leaned back on the bar.

"Why do you think Mira wanted to do this so suddenly?" Lucy asked her.

"Probably to get her dream relationships together." Erza chuckled and shook her head.

"Dream relationships?" Lucy questioned.

"She always has people she think would be a cute couple in the guild and will set up schemes to get them together." Erza explained.

'Like me and Natsu.' Lucy remembered her from earlier and blushed at the thought.

"Let me guess, she has one for you." Erza laughed, noticing her red cheeks.

"Y-Yeah, sorta." Lucy answered.

"Who?" Erza asked casually.

"She thinks...me and Natsu." Lucy muttered the last part quietly.

"Hm, I agree." Erza nodded her head.

"W-Wha?" Lucy gaped at her.

'Does everyone think we should go out?!' She thought.

"I have to admit, sometimes her fantasies get a tad annoying, but sometimes she's dead on with her shippings." Erza smirked at her, making her blush and realize she meant that for her.

"Have any for you?" Lucy asked, changing the subject.

"Y-Yeah, me and Jellal." Erza blushed and looked away from her.

"Who's Jellal?" Lucy asked growing a smile and poking her arm.

"Just a childhood friend." Erza muttered.

"That's sweet. Being friends for so long and now going out." Lucy sighed in wonder.

"W-We're not going out!" Erza said to her as red as her hair.

"Why not?" Lucy snapped out of her thoughts and turned to her.

"B-Because!" Erza didn't finish and looked away from her.

"Well I wish you luck with that." Lucy smiled at her and stood up.

"Yeah, yeah." Erza mumbled.

"EVERYONE! LET'S GET READY TO LEAVE!" Mira squealed loudly and stood in front of the doorway with her giant bag of supplies.

The guild cheered in excitement and crowded around the door.

Natsu kicked open the doors, ready to eat his brains out and lost his grin.

"Luuccyy! Make the rain stooopp!" He whined across the guild.

Lucy felt all eyes on her in anticipation and sighed. She gently pushed through the crowd and met a grinning Natsu.

"Thank you, Lucy." He smiled at her slight glare.

"Mmhm." She hummed and pushed her cake into his arms to hold.

Lucy stepped out into the rain, feeling it begin to soak her clothes and flew up into the sky, pupils whitening. She raised her arms to move the storm clouds away and let the sun shine brightly across Magnolia.

The guild cheered and thanked Lucy as they bolted out of the doors, Mira squealing the whole way.

* * *

After the entire guild walked to the deserted cliff, Natsu had realized this was where he first saw Lucy. Everyone placed down large blankets to cover the ground and their plates of food and goodies right on top of them.

"Hey, Levy." Lucy greeted as she came to sit down on her blanket.

"Lu-chan! How's that book?" Levy smiled and asked.

"It's great! I haven't completely finished it yet, but I know already that it's Joesph with the demon inside him killing all the campus girls." Lucy awed over the book.

"Yeah, he got a bit gruesome there." Levy shivered as she remembered the distinct details.

"Thanks so much for letting me borrow it, I'll give it back soon, okay?" Lucy smiled at her.

"No problem, Lu-chan." Levy waved her off.

Lucy and Levy discussed Superstitious for a while more, then decided to go join the party. Everyone danced and drank to their hearts content, laughing and enjoying each others company. Besides the fact Gajeel was trying to sing, that was the most fun everyone had had in a long time.

* * *

Lucy felt her curiosity get the better of her. She had been staring at the end of the cliff for _hours_, but couldn't get close without the risk of a drunken guild mate pushing her off the edge. She didn't know _why_ she was curious, it was just a natural trait of hers.

Lucy saw the darkened cliff, away from all the dancing and singing near the mainland and quietly crept towards it. She didn't know what was so interesting about it, maybe there was something unusual about the bottom. She always had a creative mind, but she was mostly hoping to see a fallen star, or _something_ in that region. She knew it was farfetched for a star to be down there, but you never know. Her mother always sang songs about stuff like that happening to people who had a rough life, why not her?

Lucy crouched at the end of the dark cliff, hearing the ocean waters rush upon the shore and smelt the salty sea breeze along with it. Despite the bright and raging party, it was still too dark for her to see all the way down to the ground. She sat on her legs and laid her hands flat on the prickly grass and peeked over the edge, leaning cautiously.

She inched closer, scooting her knees forward and gripped the edge with her fingers.

'Please let something be there.' She wished and continued to look down into the foggy drop.

Lucy didn't why she wanted something to be there so badly, this was quite an unusual curiosity for even _her_. She continued to stare down into the darkness and let a frown of disappointment grow on her face. There was nothing there. From what she could see at least. She sighed and sat on her heels, fiddling the the blades of grass that poked up through her fingers.

"Lucy." Natsu said from behind her.

Lucy jumped in surprise at his voice and turned around wide eyed.

"Oh, Natsu. You scared me." She sighed and stood up to face him.

Lucy's eyes showed confusion as he stared at her with a hard expression. He stepped closer with his mouth in a frown and eyebrows arched.

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked with a serious tone and stared into her eyes.

Lucy internally sighed. 'Does he really think I try to kill myself whenever he's not around?'

"Nothing, Natsu. I'm fine." She told him.

"Lucy, why were you at the edge of that cliff?" Natsu asked, showing more concern and came right in front of her face, making her head have to tilt up a tad to look at him.

Lucy blushed at his closeness and his question. She really didn't want to admit she was looking for some star at the bottom. He would just think she was crazy. Well crazier.

"Just looking at the view." She mumbled, avoiding his eyes and looked to the grass beside her.

"Are you telling the truth?" Natsu asked with a serious tone again.

Lucy was never a good liar. She always felt guilty when she lied about a lie, it just made her feel low. She pursued her lips and stared at a very interesting blade of grass.

"Lucy, come on. You know you can tell me." Natsu begged her and grabbed her wrist gently.

Lucy felt her face burn red and was glad it was dark so he couldn't see.

"I was looking for a star." She mumbled quietly, knowing his enhanced hearing senses could pick it up but also hoping he wouldn't.

"A star?" Natsu asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"I wasn't going to jump off, Natsu." Lucy said, finally looking up to him.

"...Okay." He said and let go of her wrist.

"I have some self control, you know." Lucy joked lightly and poked his buff chest.

"Just...want to make sure." Natsu grinned at her, rubbing the back of his head.

"Thanks." Lucy smiled shyly at him.

"Why are you looking for a star? Aren't they supposed to be in the sky?" Natsu asked curiously.

"Yeah, I just remembered a song and wanted to see if a fallen one was down there." Lucy replied and got quieter, realizing how dumb it sounded.

"What song?" Natsu asked her curiously.

"Catch a Falling Star." Lucy said and looked up to the diamond filled sky.

"How does it go?" Natsu asked as he sat cross legged on the ground in front of her.

Was he seriously asked her to sing?

* * *

**Aww, this story has lost its sister...oh well. Thanks for reading guys, I hope you liked it!**

**So yes, after this story I will post the results of the whole 'vote for story' thing and then start the winner, ALONG with another story to just even it out, because ya know, the more distractions from A Free Star the better. :p**

**So yeah, VOTE FOR NEW STORY, YOU WONT BE ABLE TOO SOON ENOUGH SO DO IT NOW!**

**Choice 1- The Visitor**

**Choice 2- The Orchid**


	13. Catch A Falling Star

"Well, the chorus is simple." She told him and replayed the song in her head from when her mother sang it.

_Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,_

_Never let it fade away..._

_Catch a falling star and put it your pocket,_

_Save it for a rainy day..._

"Put it in your pocket?" Natsu questioned the meaning.

"It just means that if you're feeling down, you can always have the comfort of that star that you have with you at all times." Lucy explained, recalling her mother's words and missing her soft voice when she spoke to her.

_For love may come, and tap you the shoulder some starless night,_

_Just in case you feel you want to hold her,_

_You'll have a pocket full of starlight..._

"And then the chorus again, and that line, and the chorus..." Lucy drifted off giving a weak smile.

"It ends like that?" Natsu frowned, he hoped there was more to it than _that_.

"One more line." Lucy said with a small smile and blinked back her tears.

_For when your troubles start multiplyin' and they just might,_

_It's easy to forget them without tryin',_

_With just a pocketful of starlight..._

_Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,_

_Never let it fade away..._

_Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket,_

_Save it for a rainy day,_

_Save it for a rainy day,_

_Save it for a rainy day..._

Lucy looked to Natsu's sympathetic face as she felt a few tears fall down.

"Sorry, my mother used to sing that to me." Lucy laughed a bit and wiped her face dry.

"I like the song, you sing well." Natsu gave her a warm smile.

"Thanks." Lucy blushed a bit and played with the grass in front of her.

"You know this is where I first saw you." Natsu said with a slight grin.

"What?" Lucy asked him.

"I was up here, on the cliff and I saw you floating down by the shore." Natsu explained to her.

"O-Oh." Lucy said and looked down to hide her red face.

"Why were you over here?" She asked a minute later.

"I dunno, just taking a walk." Natsu shrugged.

"I'm glad I decided too, though." He added with a smile.

"Y-Yeah. Me too, I guess." Lucy smiled awkwardly and looked up to him.

"NATSU, LUCY! COME HELP CLEAN UP!" Grey yelled from across the cliff.

"SHUT UP GREY! YOU'RE RUINING THEIR MOMENT!" Mira shouted at him in rage and bonked his head with a mug.

Lucy felt her cheeks flush scarlet and looked to see everyone cleaning up and preparing to go home.

"I guess we should help out." Natsu sighed and stood up, holding out a hand for Lucy.

"Yeah." Lucy agreed and took his hand to stand up.

Lucy and Natsu went back to help clean the giant mess their guild made. After picking up blankets, plates, cups and empty beer barrels, everyone went their separate ways to sleep the great night.

Lucy hummed her mother's song as she balanced on the railing of the river, her smile growing larger at every chorus she came across.

"Be careful, Lucy!" The fishermen warned as he drifted into the river.

"Thanks guys!" Lucy waved and hopped off the railing.

Lucy walked into her empty apartment and sighed loudly. She twirled on her heel and fell onto her bed, staring at her pale ceiling. Before she knew it, Lucy was dozing off into a short sleep.

* * *

Lucy awoke to the annoying light she forgot to turn off and a heavy pressure on her chest. She cracked open her eyes to the harsh light and groaned of annoyance. She saw a little ball of blue fur on her chest, breathing softly as he slept and purred.

'How cute.' Lucy thought and took the sleeping exceed in her arms.

Lucy carried Happy like a baby and went up to turn off her big light and continue her sleeping. She turned off her light, now covered in darkness and heard some glasses clank together from her kitchen.

'What is it, now?' She thought, really wanting to go back to sleep.

Lucy cradled the purring Happy in her arms and saw her kitchen light on. She stalked towards it and saw Natsu digging through her fridge and Grey already eating a sandwich as he sat on the counter.

"Why?" Lucy asked simply and rubbed her eye.

"Oh, hey Lucy." Natsu grinned at her and closed her fridge.

"Hey Lucy."Grey nodded at her and took another bite out of his sandwich.

"What are you guys doing here? What time is it?" Lucy asked walking closer to the two.

"About midnight." Grey shrugged.

"Midnight?!" Lucy gaped. "Why are you here so late?"

"Got bored." Natsu shrugged as he leaned on the counter.

Lucy sighed at the idiots and closed her eyes for a second, trying to think of a reason why her house was so suitable for when they got bored.

"Whatever. I'm going back to sleep." She said and dragged her feet back to her bedroom.

Lucy entered her dark bedroom and groped her way back to her bed. She laid Happy on a part of her pillow gently and laid her head next to him. She sighed in relief that she was back in bed and closed her eyes.

"STUPID FLAME HEAD!" Grey cried in anger and mourn.

"ITS YOUR FAULT ICE BRAIN!" Natsu shot back, letting a crash sound throughout the apartment.

Lucy was typically a patient person, but like every other girl, if you mess up her beauty sleep, she _will_ turn into a demon and destroy anything that prevents that.

Lucy shot open her eyes, desperately trying to keep calm and kicked off her blankets. She stomped to her kitchen to see what those _idiots_ did now and let her mouth drop to the floor.

"L-Lucy! Hey!" Natsu laughed awkwardly.

Lucy remained speechless and just gaped at the sight in front of her.

"Now, I know it looks bad, but we can fix it." Grey said shakily.

"M-My fridge..." Lucy choked out and walked closer.

"Don't freak, we can fix it!" Natsu tried to reassure her as he held her fridge door in his hand...off its hinges.

"H-How..." Lucy remained practically speechless and stared at her disassembled fridge door.

"It's all Hot Head's fault! He kept going through your fridge!" Grey accused and pointed towards him.

"No! If he would of stopped getting in my way this wouldn't of happened!" Natsu denied and waved her fridge door around, letting its contents fall to the floor.

"If you would stop joking around so much-"

"IF YOU WEREN'T SO IMPATIENT-"

"IF YOU WEREN'T SUCH A ASH-BRAINED MORON-"

"SHUT UP!" Lucy shouted, feeling rage boil through her blood. That fridge was _expensive_.

Natsu and Grey flinched at her yell and backed up. They had never managed to anger Lucy before, but now they've done it.

"FIX IT. NOW." Lucy ordered as she glared at them with an murderous intent.

"Yes Ma'me!" They squeaked and cowered to the floor.

Lucy began to storm off back to her bed but turned around as soon as she left the room to look at the idiots.

"Wake me up again and you're dead." She spat coldly and went back to her room, slamming the door.

"She's as bad as Erza." Grey shivered in fear.

"Probably worse if we woke her again." Natsu said shakily.

Grey and Natsu stood in her kitchen, not really sure what just happened. They _never_ saw an angry Lucy and frankly they never did want to again.

"So...how do we fix it?"

* * *

**Hey guys, new chapter. :) Thanks for all the reviews and follows and all that jazz, I love you all for it.**

**Remember to vote for new story!**

**Choice 1-The Visitor**

**Choice 2- The Orchid**


	14. Weather Machine

"I want a white fridge. Has to match my counters, so with a light blue trimming." Lucy thought out loud as she kicked her legs up on the bar counter.

"Adjustable temperature and ice maker. Lots of storage, definitely." She added and stared at the guilds ceiling.

"But your old fridge didn't have that!" Natsu complained as he sat next to a sulking Grey.

"Yeah, but my new fridge will have that." Lucy smiled deviously to them.

"At least 4 feet wide so it will fit nicely." She continued and crossed her ankles. "And not too wide, I don't want it sticking out too much."

"Oh, what happened here?" Mira asked from behind the bar counter.

"Natsu and Grey are getting me a new fridge!" Lucy exclaimed and sat up straight in her barstool.

"Why?" Erza asked the boys as she sat on the other side of Lucy.

"Grey broke it!" Natsu whined and pointed his finger at him.

"No! It's all Flame Brain's fault, he's the one who ripped off the door!" Grey snapped.

"You ripped off her fridge door!" Mira and Erza gaped at them.

"At 1:30 in the morning too after breaking into my house." Lucy added with a sarcastic smile.

"You idiots!" Erza growled, making them cower further into their chairs.

"It's okay Erza. They'll be getting me a bigger and better one, right boys?" Lucy smiled deviously at them and batted her eyelashes.

"Yes Ma'me." They said softly.

"Well then, want anything anyone?" Mira offered to clear the tension.

"I'll take a toasted BLT." Lucy asked and leaned on the counter.

"Sure." Mira smiled and went to go prepare it.

"Hey can we go on a mission?" Natsu asked the three.

"Yeah, I need rent money." Lucy agreed.

"I'll pick one." Erza said and got up to check on the board.

"Get a hard one!" Grey said to her, now missing his shirt.

Erza gazed over all the requests on the board. She figured she could get a slightly hard one, from what it seems from Grey's discription, Lucy's pretty tough. 'Not one you want to anger.' Grey shivered in slight fear as he remembered Lucy totally fry the group of mages because of a simple punch to her nose.

Erza sighed and looked at one paper that caught her eye.

_Capture a powerful mage that has escaped the Magic Councils prision_.

'Only one? Sounds simple enough, but I won't let my guard down. They put powerful in that sentence for a reason...' She thought and plucked off the paper.

"Mira." Erza called and laid the paper down on her bar.

Mira placed down Lucy's plate and gladly took the job request for approval.

"Awesome! I'm going to go pack!" Natsu cheered and darted for the doors.

"Me too, after this at least." Lucy agreed and shifted her plate closer, feeling her mouth water from the great smell.

Natsu kicked open the doors to the guild, loosing his wide smile once again as thunder rolled through Magnolia. Loud rain pattered on the cement floor, soaking up everything as fog covered the tops of the buildings.

Lucy picked up her sandwich, preparing to take a bite and swallowed her saliva from her watering mouth.

"Luuuuccyyy! Make it quit raining!" Natsu whined from across the guild.

Lucy rolled her eyes and lowered her sandwich to talk clearly.

"Natsu, you haven't let it rain in weeks. The nature and plants need water, let it rain." She told him and raised her sandwich again.

Lucy's lips felt the toasted bread, but was stopped abruptly as Natsu began his non-stop whining.

"Luuccyy! Pleaaaseee!" Natsu whined, making the guild groan in annoyance.

"Ppllllleeeeeeeaaaaassssseeee!" He drug out stubbornly.

Lucy stared ahead at Mira's smiling form and dropped her sandwich onto the plate, licking off the crumbs that lingered on her lips.

"I swear I'm nothing but just a weather machine for you people." She muttered standing up as she heared Mira, Grey, and Erza giggle.

Lucy scowled at Natsu triumphant grin as she neared him and the doors.

"Thank you, Lucy." Natsu grinned at her.

"You're such a child." Lucy scoffed as her pupils whitened and exited the guild.

Natsu cowered a bit as she passed him for those _eyes_. That color with her irrated expression didn't mix well in the whole friendliness effect. He watched as Lucy casually walked out into the pouring rain and lifted herself into the air. She raised her hands and waved them, as if swating a fly and saw the storm clouds move away from Magnolia and disperse, letting the sunlight glaze over the town.

Lucy landed on her feet, crouching a bit and turned her head back to Natsu's.

"You're awesome, Lucy!" Natsu cheered and ran to give her a bear hug.

Lucy felt her cheeks grow hot as Natsu embraced and spun her around.

"T-Thanks..." She said softly and was put on her feet again.

"Hey guys, we'll be leaving in a hour or so. Be ready by then." Erza said, peeking her head through the opened doors.

"Okay, Erza." Lucy nodded at her.

"So what's our mission?" Lucy asked curiously as she fiddled with Natsu's pink hair as he lay on her lap.

"Just catch an escaped prisoner." Erza told her as she watched the land outside quickly enter and leave her sight.

"Do we know where he is?" Grey asked, sitting next to Erza on the train.

"The guy will tell us, I think." Erza answered and continued to watch the window.

"Do we know anything about the guy?" Lucy asked, wanting to know just a _little_ about the man they were up against.

"Well, he has some weird mind magic and that's how he got passed the guards to escape." Erza told them, still totally unnerved by their lack of knowledge.

"Great, the guys going to make our brains explode." Grey said, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"I don't think that's what she meant..." Lucy said awkwardly with a smile.

"We'll be fine guys, we just have to wait for the information." Erza reassured them.

* * *

**Hey guys, thanks for reading, yall are awesome. Sorry for how short this chapter is, but to be honest this story is comin to an end! Finally! Haha, I know its a bit boring but it will pick up soon enough.**

**Review and tell me what ya think so far, kay?**

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**Choice 1- The Visitor**

**Choice 2- The Orchid**


	15. Begin The Search!

The four mages arrived at the town a few hours later and made their way to the Royal Guards who had posted the job request.

"We don't know too much on what type of magic he uses, but he's not a physical type of fighter so it shouldn't be too hard." The guard told them.

"Really Erza, you had to get a weakling?" Natsu complained to her.

"Be quiet. He could still be strong." Erza tried reassuring him and herself.

"Do you know where he is?" Lucy asked him.

"We believe he has gained the trust of some supporters for him in a nearby mansion that was closed down a few years ago." The guard informed them.

"So it's not just him?" Grey asked for clarification.

"unfortunately, no. He might have a large group of mages by his side for protection." The guard said, hoping they wouldn't get mad.

"Well that's better than just him." Natsu shrugged.

"Okay, we'll set out now." Erza nodded at the guard.

"Great. Good luck." The guard smiled at her and went back to his post.

So the four set out towards the abandoned mansion near the back wall of the town, passing through the very tiny town with only a few locals. They saw the great mansion in the distance, it was surrounded by a metal fence that was rusting and the gate was nearly off its hinges. Weeds and grasses grew immensely all over the yard at different rates, making it look uneven and sloppy. The house itself _was_ huge, but the windows and doors were boarded up as glass shatters and wooden debris covered the ugly yard. They could tell the house _could_ be beautiful and was once, but now it was nothing that just a mere waste.

"Yikes. Wonder what happened here." Grey said as they stared at the mansion.

"I don't know, but keep your guard up. Let's move." Erza said and looked around cautiously as she began to lead the way through the busted metal gates.

The four walked slowly down the cement driveway that lead to a circle in front of the grand entrance. They heard glass shatter beneath their feet as they walked and saw the doors that were naturally boarded up, now broken down.

"How many people do you think there are?" Lucy whispered to Erza as they crept up to the entrance.

"Shouldn't be a lot. Nothing we can't handle." Erza whispered back and smiled reassuringly.

"Can we just go in already?" Natsu complained quietly as they stood on both sides of the door, preparing to bust in.

"Relax, Natsu. We're about too." Erza hushed him and equipped her sword.

Erza quickly kicked open the aged door, making it slam into the wall next to her and walked in. Everyone else followed her trail and saw a large groups of bandits lounging around in the foyer and living room, sitting on ripped couches and broken tables.

"HEY!" A bandit yelled, catching everyone elses attention towards the four.

"Alright! I'm all fired up!" Natsu cheered and lit his hand on fire, showing off proudly.

"Natsu don't overdo it." Lucy told him and she walked next to him.

"Don't worry, Lucy. You just be careful." Natsu grinned at her and took off towards the group of mages that all banded together.

Lucy blushed a bit and smiled softly. She heard Grey and Erza begin to fight off the mansion full of bandits and soon joined in on the fight.  
Lucy ran into the living room and saw another group of mages grouped together. They noticed her and sent a mix of different magic types all at her. She ducked and rolled on the floor, avoiding the beams and hid behind a sofa chair. She peeked out and sent a lightning zap at the group, but only hitting a few who shrieked and fell to their knees.  
Lucy stood up quickly and sent a sideways tornado at the remaining group, making them fly back into the crumbling and boarded wall limply. She felt her hair fly all around her and saw a circle of slightly transparent wind come the air around her and continue to crush the mages from pressure.  
She let up on the group and watched as they all fell to the ground unconscious. She smirked and turned around, seeing if any others were there and how the others were doing. She still saw fire and ice bursts explode from the neighboring rooms and bandits be thrown everywhere like rag dolls. She laughed a bit at Erza's war cries that echoed throughout the halls and decided to search for the man who escaped. She ran down a lonely hallway and began her search.

* * *

**Hey guys, Thanks for reading and all of the reviews and all that, I seriously love yall for it. :***

**So yeah, this storys comin to an end preettyyy soon, maybe a chapter or two more. I just want to say this though, I wrote this story about...4 months ago? Maybe more. The point is, I myself think I have improved ALOT. Haha, I mean seriously, like Im writing a new one right now called Promises Never Kept (still deciding if I want to post this just cuz im so excited for it) and now that I look back on my old stories im like...wooow...wtf was I thinking?**

**BUT ANYWAYS! I promise my new stories that im working on right now (ones you haven't heard of yet) are so much better with longer chapters (like im tryin for at least 2500 words each chappy) and detail and all that good stuff. So don't hate me cuz (from what I currently think) its badly written! Not that anyone has said that, but I personally think so.**

**I might post my latest beginning to a story today, just cuz its special and it gets to skip the line (not that the others wont come).**

**But yeah, thanks for reading and look forward to other stuuf soon. Love yas, bye!**


	16. Uh Oh

A while later, Natsu was finishing up his little mob of bandits that honestly had no chance against the great Salamander of Fairy Tail. Blowing out another fiery inferno at the last few bandits, he saw the intense blast eat away at the doorway that they tried to escape out of. They shrieked of surprise and pain and fell over unconscious on a pile of his buddies that had already met his flaming fists about an hour ago.

Natsu gave himself a rewarding smirk and darted out to the main foyer, carelessly stepping on bodies of men he had already taken care of. He looked around the giant mansion, searching for any more little helpers of the escaped convict. A childish frown grew on his face at the sight of no one left. This was barley even a work out for him!

Sighing to himself, he decided to try and find the others and/or the escapee. He strolled down an abandoned hallway, passing by occasional groaning fan boys and whistled a tune he heard while at the guild one day. Only searching half-heartedly, he stopped abruptly in front of a doorway, catching himself before he fell over onto his face.

A man he hadn't seen before, probably just another bandit, flew out of the room and slammed into the concrete wall across the hallway. A pained grunt erupted from his throat and he slumped to the ground in defeat. Natsu peeked his head in the room and found Erza finishing up her section too. She wiped her hands clean of dust, equipping into her usual chest plate from her Black Wing armor and walked out past him.

"All done?" She mused, continuing her path towards the man she had just used as a wrecking ball to the concrete wall.

"Yeah, where are the others?" Natsu asked, following her trail across the damaged hallway.

"Probably still fighting." She sighed and crouched down to the man's level, making him gulp and try to back away into the wall.

She viscously snatched up the man's collar and gave a dark glare into his feared eyes. She could feel him shiver and sweat, watching amusingly ad fear flashed through his eyes like a lost puppy about to get hurt.

"Where's the man you're helping?" She asked harshly, shaking him a bit to add to her interrogation effect.

"U-Upstairs! I-In the study!" The man choked out, trying to her avoid her demonic eyes in fear for his life.

"Thanks." She said simply before sending a punch to his gut, knocking him out cold.

Natsu just watched awkwardly, a bit frightened himself from just witnessing that. In a way, he felt sorry for the guy, he knows what's it like on the other end of that, but he was also kind of glad. Now he gets why other people find it funny when Erza beats him up, it was kind of funny how scared the guy got.

"Let's go, we'll try and find the others along the way." Erza declared, standing upright again to continue her path down the crumbling hallway.

Natsu just nodded at her and followed her trail once again. They scoured the large mansion, passing down hallway after hallway, looking for the grand staircase to lead them upstairs. Even if Erza won't admit it, she wasn't the best with directions and neither was Natsu. It was safe to say they were lost, but if it comes to it, Natsu will just have to burn out his own hallway.

* * *

They continued to wander aimlessly until they heard a large blast come from down the path they were already headed in. Grey growled in irritation as the wimpy bandit decided to make a run for it. He just hated it when they ran, it was practically futile and it made him have to work harder.

"HEY! GET BACK HERE!" He yelled down the hallway as she bruised bandit scurried away.

He planted his hand on the carpeted floors and chanted his magic, creating a crystal blue magic circle on it. Ice spread out all over the entire hallways floor, covering it in a thin sheet to make him slip and fall. Like he had planned, the bandit shrieked in surprise as he slipped on the ice and fell down onto his stomach. Before he could even raise a finger, he was out for the count when he received a good kick to the cheek with a boot.

Erza and Natsu were also surprised by his sudden action and struggled with not falling also. Erza swiftly equipped a sword, smashing it down into the ice to help keep her balance. She caught her balance enough to rest on her knee before she slipped all the way down.

Natsu on the other hand fell flat on his ass with a shriek of surprise, not much else to it.

"DAMNIT ICE BLOCK!" He yelled to him in irritation as he unsteadily tried to get to his feet, failing massively.

Grey turned around and saw his teammates also trying to not slip on the ice. Erza slowly but surely making her way to her feet with occasional slips and Natsu sliding around as if he had ice skates on. He couldn't resist to let out a laugh, making his way over to them. Natsu growled at him, thankfully feeling Grey melt the ice so they could all stand.

"Sorry, didn't see you guys." Grey apologized with laugher still in his words. He found it highly amusing how clumsy the great Titania and Salamander looked right at that moment.

"Whatever, have you seen Lucy?" Natsu asked, coming over by him with Erza.

"Nope, just me down here. Have you figured out where the guy is?" Grey asked them and stood in front of the two with his arms crossed.

"Upstairs study. Let's head there." Erza told him and pointed up with her thumb.

"Alright, I know the way back to the staircase." Grey said and pointed down the hallway they were headed.

"What about Lucy, think she's alright?" Natsu asked them worriedly.

"I'm sure she is. Just imagine her as mad as the fridge incident but plus magic." Grey shivered in fear. He just realized how lucky they were when she didn't zap them or something.

Natsu's eyes widened in fear also of the terrifying thought.

"Oh yeah...she's like a second Erza." He shivered along with him.

"What's _that_ supposed to mean?" Erza asked him, raising an eyebrow.

Natsu and Grey forgot she was there and sweated bullets at her seemingly normal gaze, knowing it was much more than that.

"S-She's totally nice!" Natsu laughed awkwardly.

"Yeah! The best person ever!" Grey added weakly.

"Hmm. Let's just go." Erza sighed, resisting a smirk at the idiots and began walking down the hallway. She just loved scaring them, she was actually flattered by the statement.

* * *

Grey lead the others back to the foyer with the grand staircase and they climbed the elegant stairs.

"Know where the study is?" Natsu asked the two, finally reaching the top of the staircase.

"Nope, let's just look around." Grey sighed and gazed down the hallway.

The three walked down the hallway, peeking their heads in and out of rooms, but only seeing bedrooms and bathrooms. They came across the master bedroom that was _huge_ and figured they must of been getting close.

"Where is it?" Natsu whined and dragged his feet down the hallway.

"Has to be around here somewhere, just keep looking." Erza told them and peeked her head in a doorway, then retracting as it was empty.

"Can you smell him?" Grey asked Natsu, eager to find this hide and seek idiot.

Natsu sniffed the air, searching for an unfamiliar scent and furrowed his eyebrows.

"My sense of smell has weakened..." Natsu said softly, as if he was talking to himself.

"What does that mean?" Erza asked and saw the end of their hallway.

"I can only smell like you guys now." Natsu told them and tried sniffing the air again, but to no avail.

"Probably that dudes mind tricks again." Grey assumed and kicked open a limp door, looking inside the room.

"What a jerk." Natsu pouted and crossed his arms.

"Keep looking." Erza muttered at him and opened another door, looking inside.

Her eyes realized that this room was the 'study' that the bandit was talking about. She turned back to the two, catching their attention and put a finger to her lips as she opened the door wider.

Erza walked fully into the room with Natsu and Grey and looked around in the seemingly empty room. Erza looked around in the dusty room, seeing an aged desk and walls lined with tall bookshelves. Small rays of sunlight tried to peak into the room from the boarded up windows, casting an eerie effect of the room.

Erza felt a harsh shove come up from behind her and crush her back into an old bookshelf, making the aged wood break and splinter off. Her head pounded from the force and wood and felt the debris stab her exposed skin. She tried moving, but something was holding her down. She was unable to move any part of her body, she was just stuck there on the wall.

"Erza!" Natsu and Grey yelled, running into the middle of the room.

The two looked all over the room for the mage that had done this to her. Natsu spotted the escapee, casually sitting leisurely on the top of the door with one foot propped up on the top. He growled at the mage, who was just watching amusingly from up top with a crooked grin.  
Natsu yelled his Dragons Roar at the man, sending a flaming inferno towards him. The merciless fire ate away at the entire wall, along with the door and carpet that turned to ash.

The smoke billowed up and out of the room, clearing up to show the outcome. The two felt a pang of confusion and slight panic as they saw the empty door that once held the prisoner. They started to turn, to once again search for the whereabouts of the escapee, but stopped midway. An excruciating pain had just entered itself into their minds, twisting and gnawing inside them. The two cried out in pain, falling to their knees with their hands clutching their hair, desperately wanting it too stop. They felt as if their minds were going into overdrive, as if they had just gained too much knowledge for a human to process. The overwhelming feeling felt like it was eating away at their brains.

As for Erza, she could only watch in pure anger as the prisoner loomed above their crumbling bodies. Natsu and Grey's groans of pain grew worse, starting from small and muffled to loud and excruciating. They just laid on the floor, gripping their hair rashly in hopes of their brains not exploding all over another.  
Soon enough, the two fell down completely. The pain was too much for them to take, making them fall unconscious. Erza tried again to break his grasp on her, tried to raise an arm, something. But whatever he had on her, it was strong. She felt like she had just been nailed to the wall, like something was continuously pushing her back. She wheezed, still trying to move so she could _kill_ that guy, but to no avail. Whatever the guy was doing, it prevented her from moving or using any magic.

The prisoner tied up Natsu and Grey, wrapping a thin wire around their hands and feet. Erza tried growling in rage at him, but he had kept her from speaking also, so she just sent a nasty glare towards his way. The man had noticed this, and strolled over with a crooked grin.

He stepped up to her, letting her take in his appearance. He had dark raven hair than fell loosely over his face and big blue eyes to match it. He stepped back, and bowed.  
"Hello, Miss Scarlet. I am Shane, pleased to meet your acquaintance." He said cheekily, looking back up to smile wickedly at her.

Oh how Erza wished she could smack that grin off his face right now.

"You're going to take a little nap now.." He said softly, tilting his head to gaze into her eyes.

Erza felt fatigue hit her like a douse of cold water. Her eyes began to droop and her muscles felt weak all the sudden. She tried her best to keep them, blinking rapidly to wake herself up, but it was no use. It was like he had drained all energy from her, just leaving her empty shell. Her eyes were half-lidded, then slid shut gently as her body slumped.

'It's all up to you, Lucy.'

* * *

**Yaay, new chapter up! I hope you guys liked this, I know last chapter sucked kid of so I went through and rewrote some of the 'amateur' parts to make it sound better. Thanks for reading everyone and OMG I GOT 101 FOLLOWS! :D WTF**

**AND IM TWO REVIEWS AWAY FROM 100 ALSO OMG I LOVE YOU ALL ASDFDZJBFG!**

**awww, I just wanna hug each and every one of you! Thank you all for so much, all the sweet reviews and fav's, ugh yall so kiiind.**

**LOVE YOU :* **


	17. To Find The Truth

Lucy sighed as she wandered the halls of the lower level, curious at where everyone had gone. She pouted in frustration as she had seen that all the bandits were beaten and the prisoner was still yet to be seen. She couldn't help but feel worry grow in the pit of her stomach; she hasn't heard any occasional blasts from somewhere in the mansion. Where were the others? She should've at least run into them by now.

'Maybe their upstairs..' Lucy thought, turning halfway around to gaze down the hallway.  
She decided on that thought and began to find her way back to the main foyer.

* * *

Shane watched silently as the three captured mages awoke, releasing groans and rolling on their backs from the floor. He crossed his arms leisurely as their sight cleared up and looked around them wondering where in the _hell_ they were. He still found it amusing how they hadn't noticed his presence yet.

"You're in a special place." He said suddenly, catching their attention followed by a sharp glare.

Shane had entered the three into a trance of his mind. Surrounded them was a land of nothingness. Darkness was the only thing seen for miles and miles, there was no sky nor ground. They were just in an abyss of nothing. The only visible thing seen was each other's bodies.

"What the hell! Let us go!" Natsu growled at him, squirming around on the floor as he tried to set fire to the binds on his hands and feet.

"Your magic doesn't work here." Shane sighed, not even sparing a glance at them.

Despite his words, the three continued to try and break out of his restraints, but without their magic working it was futile. The wire he had used was unnaturally strong for its thin size.

Shane just rolled his blue eyes at them and turned away, closing them. His mind searched the abandoned mansion after remembering something. If he wasn't mistaking, there was four mages out for his capture, not three. Pictures of the mansions hallways flashed through his mind like a security camera, searching for the final mage. His mind came across the blonde, slowly making her way up the staircase as she looked around eagerly. He couldn't help but let a sly smile on his face at the innocent and curious expression she had on.

"Hm...I see you have a friend here." He spoke half-mindedly, still watching her make her up towards them.

'Lucy.' They all thought, somewhat in relief and horror at the same time.

"Lucy? That's a pretty name." Shane mused, smiling a bit as he heard a low growl.

"How did you know that?" Grey snapped at him, sending a cold glare at him even if he was looking.

"I'm allowed to read thoughts, along with memories when in here." He answered, referring to his little land of darkness as he continued to watch Lucy, who was now peeking her head in and out of rooms.

Shane tilted his head in curiosity of the blonde. He stared at her and began to rummage through her mind, looking at her memories. His eyes widen slightly as he pictured what she had gone through. Despite only being allowed to watch her memories, he could still feel the literal pain she had went through. He admired her for her strength, but he still had a little plan hatching in his mind.

"We are gonna have some fun with this..." He spoke absentmindedly again, more to himself than the others.

"What are you doing!?" Erza yelled fiercely at him, clenching her fists and unclenching them. They were just itching to land a hit on him.

Shane just smiled crookedly in reply, seeing that Lucy was now coming across the study door. She opened it curiously, peeking her head in first, then her body. Her eyebrows arched and she stood up straight, her eyes taking in the abnormal land before her. She heard the door slam shut and quickly turned back, only to see nothing. The door, the hallway, the _mansion_ was gone, leaving her in the emptiness of Shane's hallucination. Fear as well as confusion crawled up and down her spine. Where had she just gone?

Lucy turned around once again, trying to well down the panic that was stirring within her. She held in a gasp as she saw the assumingly prisoner standing a few feet away from her now. She could of swore he wasn't there before. She shook her head, this wasn't time to be contemplating how he got there, she needed to take him out.

Lucy started towards the escapee, raising her hand to generate electricity for an attack. She stopped abruptly in front of him, almost face to face as she noticed her powers weren't working. He just sent her a victorious smile as she stared wide eyed at her hand.

Lucy didn't hold back on releasing a gasp as she saw the others, tied up and laying on the floor far away from her. How could this guy manage to capture _all_ of them?! She wasn't as strong as the others, just how crazy was this guy?!

"Guys!" She cried out, catching their attention from them trying to break out of their ropes.

The others looked up from her call and saw her, relief and panic stirring within them.

"Lucy! Be careful!" Natsu yelled, still struggling with his binds from across the vast land.

Lucy snapped her head back to the prisoner and hesitantly took a step back. She stared into his blue eyes, expecting him to lung at her or something, but he didn't.

He just stood there, staring at her with an intrigued look with crossed arms.

Shane continued to rummage through her memories and thoughts. He had seen that her mental health was _very_ unstable, practically one hit away from failing massively. He doesn't even know why she's alive after reading what she thought of herself. Something obviously must of stopped her from stopping her, but what could have such an effect of her to make her quit?

Shane continued to search for what he liked to call the 'tape'. There was always one with suicidals like her. There was that thin piece of tape that held together her mess of a mind. It kept her from falling truly insane, it kept together the jagged puzzle pieces that made up her emotions and self thoughts. Something must of happened to change her life drastically, that thin piece of tape that changed her entire perspective. Once he found that little piece, it would so easy just to rip it off and watch her crumble into the crazy she was.

He continued to search for it, digging through her memories eagerly. He saw it all, her mother's death, followed by her sisters, then her father's. How alone and sad she was once she had run away, just hoping for the best. But none of this could of helped her. Where was it?

He pressed on in her mind, finally coming to her suicidal attempt in the ocean. He watched her point of view, all the way up until the same pink-haired guy he tied up before came to rescue her. He could feel the joy and love she expressed for the man, the reason she was still here...Found ya.

"Oh I see, Natsu saved you." Shane nodded in understanding, as if he just found out the answer to a math problem and was rolling his eyes at his stupidity.

Lucy arched her eyebrows at him, staring at him with confusion and suspicion. She swallowed harshly, wondering what he was talking about.

"At the beach?" Shane clarified, a playful grin painted on his face as he leaned forward expectantly.

Lucy and Natsu's eyes widened at his words, amazed at his knowledge of something so personal. Grey and Erza were still plenty confused, but either way they could tell he was planning something bad.

"What are you talking about? How do you know that?" Lucy snapped at him sternly, glaring his way in paranoia.

"Pretty sweet thing of him too do. _Risking_ his life for you in those freezing waters." Shane sighed sympathetically, pacing around with his arms held properly behind his back.

'What is he talking about?' Erza wondered, furrowing her scarlet eyebrows at him confusedly angry.

"He wouldn't of died.." Lucy drifted off, still staring at him harshly, but couldn't stop the flicker in her eyes.

Shane just made a sorrowful smile at her. He saw it, the flicker of uncertainty in her brown eyes. This wouldn't be too hard, he hasn't even started yet.

"But he could've. And for what? Some girl who was going to kill herself anyways?" Shane asked, smirking as her expression fell down a bit.

Lucy just stared at the blackened floor, clenching the hem of her skirt nervously. It dawned on her that she never really checked to see if Natsu was alright. The water was well below freezing that night, she could of actually hurt him or something.

"Now why would he actually waste time to help _you_? You said it yourself, a pathetic being like yourself doesn't even deserve to live." Shane pressed on, circling her slowly as he watched her expression fall with each sentence.

Lucy felt her breaths get shaky and tears well up in her eyes. She kept her head lowered, trying to push away the feeling. She couldn't let him talk to her like this..it wasn't true..it wasn't true..

"Don't listen to him Lucy!" Natsu yelled across the dark land, still struggling with his restraints. He saw what Shane was doing and considering the circumstances, he could tell he had a good chance of succeeding.

Erza still wasn't sure at what he was getting at, apparently something personal that she had yet to know about the blonde, but she also knew her. Lucy was strong and intelligent, she knows not to fall for whatever his tricks were.

"Lucy's smart enough not to believe him, Natsu." Erza told him, still trying to hope that Lucy will somehow save them.

"No, she's not! She can't!" Natsu pleaded as he rolled around on the floor, still trying to break the ropes with brute strength, his frustration growing immensely.

'Did she really try and commit suicide?' Grey and Erza though, watching the others reactions towards the subject.

"He probably only saved you because he thought you were hurt. We all know how kind-hearted the man is, he only felt pity for a wreak like you." Shane continued, letting disgust line his tone as he gazed up and down at her for emphasis.

Lucy felt a tear finally fall from her eye, streaming down her cheek slowly. She quickly wiped it away on her shoulder and shook her head. Her fingers still clenched the ends of her skirt and toyed with it nervously. She shook her lowered head back and forth, still trying to deny everything he said.

"No..he's my friend.." She sniffed and wiped her cheek on her shoulder again, trying to reassure herself of her statement.

"Is that so?" Shane asked, crossing his arms as he approached her. He walked closer to her, right up to he could whisper into her ear, making sure the others don't hear.

"Then why isn't he over here to save you? He doesn't love you, he _wants_ you to die." He sneered to her disgustedly.

Lucy let a muffled cry out of her mouth, finally releasing the tears that had welled up in her eyes. Her body shook with disappointment and self-pity, still letting shaky cries out of her mouth.

"What did he just say to her?!" Grey asked them with furrowed eyebrows.

"I don't know! I can't hear as good either!" Natsu growled in frustration, still trying his best to break these ropes.

"DON'T LISTEN TO HIM LUCY!" Natsu yelled progressively, panic starting to churn within him.

Lucy just shook her head vigorously, trying to sort out her thoughts. Her mind kept in both their voices, and it was killing her to hear both sides tell her what to do. It pained her, she didn't know what to do, who to listen to, anything. It was irritating and frustrating, it made her cry harder from it all. Her hands went up to clamp down her hair, trying to rid her mind of all the demands.

She had noticed the prisoner create something from in between his hands. A dagger. She opened her bloodshot eyes and stared at it from behind her messy bangs. He did nothing with it though, but held it out towards her in the palms of his hands, as if he was presenting a gift to her.

"Quit being such a worthless burden to your so called 'friends.' Just end it already and do us a favor." Shane sneered at her, pushing the dagger closer to her eagerly.

Lucy's eyebrows arched and her frown quivered shakily. She let out a fit of soft cries, squeezing her eyes shut again as her hands clutched her blonde locks violently.

The binded mages felt their eyes grow wide at the sight. No, no way was this happening. Natsu felt the dormant panic from within him finally peak up as tears welled up in his eyes now.

"NO! LUCY!" He shouted in shock as he squirmed recklessly on the floor.

Lucy just dragged her hands down from her hair to her ears, hoping to block out the conflicting voices. She squeezed her eyes shut harder and shook her head vigorously.

Shane just let an amused smirk crawl upon his face and stared at her. He entered her mind using his magic, making sure she would hear him.

"You love him don't you? Please..it'd be so much better if you just left him alone already." He told her sympathetically from inside her brain.

"Shut up...shut up, shut up..." Lucy pleaded, clenching her jaw as her teeth grounded together, still trying to push back the tears that fell effortlessly.

"Just _die_ already! Please!" Shane yelled in her mind, an awful laugh erupting from his throat.

Lucy's fingers still tousled with her blonde strands around her ears as she hesitantly opened her eyes and gazed to the dagger before her. She gnawed on her lip slightly, sniffing her nose and slowly lifted her hand away from her. She unsurely reached out towards Shane and gripped the daggers handle. She defeatedly took it out of his hand and lowered it by her side, nervously gripping it tightly and rubbing the metal end of it.

"NO LUCY! DON'T!"

"PLEASE LUCY, STOP THIS!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Lucy heard all her friends shouts from across the dark land. Or at least what she thought was her friends. Her head lowered even more in disappointment of herself. How could she do such things to them? Make them look after her and put up with her. She was so stupid, actually believing that they cared for her. That *he* cared for her.

"Just a simple cut, and Natsu will be free of a treachery like you." Shane stated, demonstrating it by dragging his finger across his neck.

Lucy whimpered out a sob, letting tears slide down her face in an endless cycle. She raised the dagger to the left side of her neck, pressing the cool blade on it gently. She just kept it there though as she quietly cried, still slightly unsure if she wanted to go through with this.

The three others just stared at the sight before them in horror. They could not believe Lucy, _their_ Lucy would go through something like this! Surprised isn't even close to what they were feeling, they felt terrified and speechless, completely and utterly shocked.

Lucy breathed in and out raggedly, preparing to end Natsu's pain of her existence. She applied pressure to the handle, digging the blade deeper into her soft skin. Blood made its way out of the incision, drizzling down her neck at an excruciatingly slow rate.

"WE MADE A PROMISE!" Natsu screamed in panic as tears still threatened to fall.

Lucy stopped abruptly at his outburst and gazed over to him in disbelief. She saw the pleadful and worried look in his eyes, even if he was far away from her. Shane even lost his accomplished smirk, surprised that she actually stopped herself.

"You promised me you would never do something like this again as long as I gave you a reason to live." Natsu said, calming down a bit now that she had stopped hurting herself.

Lucy swallowed harshly and arched her eyebrows sympathetically at him. She just stared at him and gnawed her lip again, taking ragged breaths as she kept crying.

"You're about to break your end of the deal when I have kept mine." Natsu finished, staring at her pleadingly.

Lucy couldn't tear her eyes away from his, the ones she adored so much. The ones she loved. It killed her inside, she was so confused, so angry, so sad. She felt like there was a raging war in her mind and both sides are losing and winning, it was driving her insane!

"He's just pitying you again. He said you needed to live just because he needed company? Why should you keep your end of the deal when he hasn't even really thought of a real reason for you to live." Shane told her, irritation lining his tone that tore her eyes away from his.

"It is a real reason! You can't die, Lucy! You have to live, for me! I can't live without you!" Natsu yelled with his voice cracking, feeling a tear finally fall down his face.

"Lucy please don't do this..." Erza whispered as she and Grey watched in horror.

Lucy gasped in between her soft sobs and felt her hand begin to shake in confusion and nervousness. The blade moved along her cut, causing more blood to drip down her neck and onto her collarbone.  
Natsu just watched her recklessly, hoping she would change her mind now. Why couldn't she realize that she meant so much more to him than what that bastard was saying? She has no idea how much she has brightened up his life, everyone's life. He really can't imagine a life without someone like her, he can't even remember a life before he met her. He wanted to do nothing but to help her, make her realize that there are people out there that will and do love her unconditionally. Especially him.  
He loved her. A lot, actually. He wanted nothing but to just hug her and make her smile all day. He loved every second he spent with her and he cherished the day he found her floating in that ocean. He can't think about what he would feel like if she left him, for good this time. She has to realize that she can't just live, just because Fairy Tail needs her, but because he needs her most of all. Without her, he...doesn't even know what would become of him. So he can't let her go, he _won't_.

"I love you, Lucy. Please don't do this." Natsu pleaded softly as he stared into her eyes pleadingly, feeling as if that was how loud his voice to muster up at the moment.

Lucy's eyes grew wide at his statement, astonishment dancing in them as her heart skipped a beat. 'He loves me?'

She felt her shivering hand calm a bit and hesitantly moved it out of her cut. She hovered the bloodstained blade right next to it though, her mind still unsure of any new information given to it.

"He's lying to you. I've read his thoughts, I can tell." Shane spoke to her in his mind again, sternly glaring at her with his arms crossed.

'He was lying? He...He doesn't actually love me?' Lucy thought, eyes lowering to the ground as her damaged heart broke a bit more.  
She released another soft sob and pushed the dagger closer to her neck again. She snuggled the blade deeper into her incision, feeling fresh blood stream from it again.

"I LOVE YOU LUCY! I LOVE YOU!" Natsu screamed at the top of his lungs, finally letting a few tear drops fall down his face as he saw her flinch from the blade.

Lucy sobbed loudly and vigorously rubbed the end of the blade handle, shaking her head back and forth. Her hand began to shake again, she just felt broken and shattered. She just wanted the truth, but her mind refused to let her believe anything.

"Isn't that enough?" Natsu asked, eyebrows arching as he stared at her crumbling form.

Lucy cried out loudly and slid down to her knees in defeat. She lowered the dagger to her side, but still kept it clenched in her hand tightly.

"Just one stab, and Natsu is free of you." Shane declared, staring intently at her as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"What is he saying to her?!" Grey cried out in a hushed whisper as he struggled out of his restraints again.

The three watched as Lucy raised the dagger, holding it high above her head with both hands around the handle. Her hands shook uncontrollably, along with the soft whimpers and cries that exited from within her. She gripped the knife, preparing to plunge in into herself to end this already.

"LUCY! NO!" Natsu screamed in agony, another tear dropping onto the floor from him and the others.

"PLEASE LUCY! DON'T!" Erza cried out right after him, still trying to break her bindings.

"LUCY DON'T LISTEN TO HIM!" Grey yelled after them, and tried to freeze his ropes, but to no avail.

Lucy still held the dagger high in the air, her hands becoming sweaty of nervousness on her palms. Shane sighed in relief of his soon-to-be accomplishment and watched half-heartedly.

Her eyes connected with the others, letting them see the pain and guilt that surged through her transmit to then unintentionally.

"I'm sorry." She barley whispered, before driving the dagger down.

Natsu's shout of desperation and plead echoed throughout the empty land around them, squeezing his watery eyes shut.

"LUCY!"

* * *

**...Cliffy.. :}**

**Thanks for reading everyone, I hope you liked this one! Remember to review and all that!**


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